Premier MacDonald’s claim that by accepting Prime Minister Harper’s deal over offshore resources, Nova Scotia will gain $229 million more in revenues than it had originally demanded will require both higher natural gas prices and an active offshore program. With the Sable Offshore Energy Project entering its final few years of production, the small, sour gas Deep Panuke project still awaiting EnCana’s approval, and no offshore exploration scheduled for the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that Nova Scotians will ever see these promised revenues.

Published: Globe and Mail 12 October 2007