Stage set: for a deal on Newfoundland's Hebron oilfield
Newfoundland ‘to finalise Hebron deal’
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is set to finalise a deal with Chevron this week to develop the C$6 billion (US$5.7 billion) offshore Hebron oilfield, it was reported.
The signing of formal terms of the agreement would come a year after Premier Danny Williams and Chevron and its partners agreed to a memorandum of understanding that gave Newfoundland a 4.9% stake in the field for C$110 million, Reuters quoted the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as saying.
Quoting unnamed sources, CBC said an announcement regarding the 731 million-barrel Hebron and Ben Nevis heavy oil deposit could be made tomorrow or Thursday.
An official at the provincial natural resources department would not confirm the report. "There will be a media advisory issued when the time comes, and that's all that I am able to say," ministry spokeswoman Tracy Barron said.
An official at Chevron's Canadian unit was not immediately available for comment.
The oilfield, in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin in the Atlantic Ocean about 350 kilometres south-east of St. John's, Newfoundland, is co-owned by Petro-Canada, ExxonMobil and StatoilHydro.
It would be Newfoundland's fourth offshore project after Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose.