Question Period Note: Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas

Establishing a moratorium on new Arctic offshore oil and gas licences in federal waters was the right thing to do for Canada.
A mandatory five-year science-based review in the Arctic offshore is underway and will inform next steps for Arctic oil and gas development.
We are working closely with our Northern partners to complete the review, taking into account marine and climate change science.

In December 2016 as part of the Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement Canada designated all Canadian Arctic waters as indefinitely off limits to future offshore Arctic oil and gas licencing, to be reviewed every 5 years through a climate and marine science-based life-cycle assessment. Following the announcement, CIRNAC officials launched a one-year consultation process with industry and territorial and Northern Indigenous governments on their interests in the Arctic offshore. In October 2018, based on these consultations Canada announced next steps on the future of Arctic offshore oil and gas to address the Arctic offshore moratorium:
• Freeze terms of existing licences in Arctic offshore so they don’t expire and remit deposits to affected licence holders;
• Work with Northern partners to co-develop a five-year science-based, life-cycle impact assessment accounting for marine and climate science; and
• Negotiate a Beaufort Sea oil and gas co-management and revenue sharing agreement with the governments of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.
Officials are working with territorial and Northern Indigenous governments to co-manage two regional five-year science-based reviews, which will incorporate data from the pair of regional strategic environmental assessments wrapping up in the Beaufort Sea and Eastern Arctic offshore areas. The findings from the science-based reviews will inform future decisions on the Arctic offshore moratorium by December 2021.
A Governor in Council Order was issued in 2019 prohibiting oil and gas activities in the Arctic offshore and freezing the terms of existing oil and gas licences. The Order expires in December 2021. Officials also launched negotiations with the governments of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation for a Beaufort Sea oil and gas co-management and revenue sharing agreement. A Negotiations Framework Document was finalized in June 2019 and negotiations will re-commence in January 2020.
There is currently no active drilling in the Beaufort Sea. There are currently 13 exploration licenses in the Beaufort Sea under the work prohibition. All exploratory drilling work related to the licences, which the licencees had valued at $1.9 billion, has been suspended and the security deposits representing 25% of this amount have been remitted to the license holders while the Order remains in force. Companies holding exploration licenses include Imperial Oil, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Franklin Petroleum.

If pressed on Moratorium Extension Request

The moratorium recognizes the irreplaceable value of the Arctic offshore to Indigenous traditional lifestyles and the unique marine ecosystem.
We are working with our Northern partners to complete the five-year science based review, which will inform next steps in relation to the moratorium and future Arctic oil and gas development.
Safe, responsible oil and gas development in the Arctic offshore is the goal of the Government of Canada.