Economic News Affecting St. John's

[goodgrowth]

Province unveils plan to double oil production by 2030:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...plan-1.4541830

Targets for the plan include drilling more than 100 new exploration wells, and tapping into multiple basins to produce more than 650,000 barrels of oil per day from new and existing projects, as well as commercial natural gas production.

[IronMan]

I assume this is the correct thread for this comment.

According to news reports we are about to start purchasing power from Nova Scotia? My god - Danny Williams sure left this place in a state - when he left politics he took his credibility with him. Some saviour!!!!

[statbass]

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

Province unveils plan to double oil production by 2030:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...plan-1.4541830

Good talk... now let's put it into action!

[statbass]

Originally Posted by IronMan

I assume this is the correct thread for this comment.

According to news reports we are about to start purchasing power from Nova Scotia? My god - Danny Williams sure left this place in a state - when he left politics he took his credibility with him. Some saviour!!!!

Truly ironic, isn't it? Oh brother!

[Horsell]

We are buying power from NS because it is cheaper than producing it at Holyrood...the saving is $50,000 a day. Without that transmission line we were isolated from the mainland grid, now we can buy (or sell when the time comes) as we wish.

[goodgrowth]

Ratio Of Homes For Sale To Homes Sold Near Record Levels, Says Conference Board:
http://vocm.com/news/ratio-of-homes-...ference-board/

Newfoundland is a buyer’s market for homes – no surprise there – but the Conference Board of Canada says the ratio of listings to sales is probably at record levels – 4/1.

That means plenty of choice for buyers.

The Board is out with its monthly report on housing sales across Canada, and demand is weak throughout Atlantic Canada. In the greater St. John’s region, sales dropped over 20 per cent last month compared with April 2017, and prices went down by about one per cent. That follows a four per cent drop in prices at the same time last year.

[goodgrowth]

New call centre, and its 500 jobs, coming to St. John's

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...ohns-1.4804937

Centre scheduled to open in November at the Village Mall

The provincial and federal governments are investing more than $1.7 million in a call centre company, to help it establish a 500-person call centre in St. John's.

S&P Data is a mid-sized call centre company with locations across North America.

"Our investment into S&P Data, coupled with federal support, will help stimulate the economic activity in the northeast Avalon," Premier Dwight Ball said during an announcement Thursday afternoon.

According to a press release from the provincial government, over the next five years it expects the call centre will generate up to $131 million in economic activity.

The total cost of the company's expansion to St. John's is roughly $3 million, with the provincial government providing $975,000 as a repayable loan to assist with start-up costs, as well as $250,000 to fund training.

[statbass]

Here's a link to an economic assessment regarding the potential of the Oil and Gas industry up to 2045. It was completed by an consultancy firm based out of NB and commissioned by NOIA, so I'm sure there are different views/assessments being made. With that said, even if this report is on the right track - the potential here is huge!

https://www.imaginethepotential.ca/

[goodgrowth]

Record Number Of Bids For Offshore Exploration Licenses:
http://vocm.com/news/record-number-o...tion-licenses/

Newfoundland and Labrador has received a record number of bids for exploration licenses in the province’s offshore.

A total of $1.38-billion in bids and a record single bid of $621-million from BHP Billiton Petroleum in Eastern NL were received as a result of the most recent calls for bids in the Eastern Newfoundland Region and Jeanne d’Arc Region, both located in the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore area.

[statbass]

I'm reviving this thread as this is big news to the local economic scene. It's nice to see some good economic news mixed in from time to time!

CBC NL
Author: Terri Coles
Sept 28, 2019

On Wednesday, Canada's largest-ever venture funding deal was made for $515 million — a sizeable sum of money by any measure — going to a world leader in providing financial crime management software to financial institutions.

The lucky recipient of more than half a billion dollars in funding is one of this country's largest tech companies using artificial intelligence and isn't based in Toronto. It's not based in Vancouver, or in the Kitchener-Waterloo tech hub that built up around BlackBerry.

The company is called Verafin, and it's based here in Newfoundland and Labrador, with most of its 500 or so employees working out of St. John's — a homegrown success story bolstering a growing tech industry that many in this province are largely unaware of.

"Partially by design," Verafin co-founder and product specialist Brendan Brothers said, laughing. "We have tried to stay under the radar a little bit."

That is changing somewhat with this deal, which shone a light not just on Verafin but on the surrounding players that have both helped the company — which works with almost 3,000 banks and credit unions in Canada and the United States to detect activity like fraud and money laundering — grow over the past 16 years and have benefited from its expansion and international success.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...ding-1.5297914

[Offshore1]

Hate to be a downer, but power rates are going up tomorrow and this affects the economy as a whole here.

https://vocm.com/2019/09/30/disconne...what-province/

[statbass]

We are constantly hearing negative news about our economy - important news to hear nonetheless. However, I like to post about positive news in this thread, maybe try to balance it out a bit.

The Telegram
Date: Oct 4, 2019

Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady released the 2019 oil and gas resource assessment results Thursday which identify an additional three billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of gas potential offshore Newfoundland.

According to a news release, in total there is a combined resource potential of 52.2 billion barrels of oil and 199.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in just nine per cent of the province’s offshore. The assessment was conducted by Beicip-Franlab, a leading independent company in doing resource assessments globally.

“The purpose of embarking on this annual independent resource assessment is to broaden our understanding of the underexplored frontier basins and add to our geotechnical knowledge of the area,” Coady said.

“The resource potential in our offshore is incredible. We have over 650 leads and prospects identified to date, eight new entrants in the past three years, and $4 billion in recent exploration work commitments.

“We will continue to position the province as an internationally preferred location for oil and gas exploration and development – one that values safety and environmental responsibility and maximizes benefits to the people of the province.”
....

https://www.thetelegram.com/business...ore-nl-359918/

[statbass]

If you or anyone you know is career searching, this one appears to be very lucrative.

CBC News NL
Author:Terri Coles
Date: Oct 8, 2019

A new three-year program at the College of the North Atlantic is designed to fill a growing need for software developers in the province's tech sector grows, says the dean of the institution's business school.

The program aims to get students ready to fill the coding shortage already facing Newfoundland and Labrador, says Stephen Warren, dean of CNA's School of Business and Information Technology — a gap likely to only get worse, with about 3,000 of the province's 8,000 workers in the information and communications technologies sector close to retirement,

"We're looking at thousands of people [needed] in the next few years," he said.

The co-op diploma program, launching in fall 2020 in both St. John's and Corner Brook, was designed to fit the needs of the 35 locally operating companies consulted during its development, Warren told The St. John's Morning Show.

Those companies are part of an industry now worth $1.5 billion annually in the province, according to a recent report from the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council — more than tourism or the traditional fishery.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...gram-1.5311432

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by statbass

We are constantly hearing negative news about our economy - important news to hear nonetheless. However, I like to post about positive news in this thread, maybe try to balance it out a bit.

The Telegram
Date: Oct 4, 2019



https://www.thetelegram.com/business...ore-nl-359918/

Keep hearing about the amount of gas involved in NL oilfields, but as yet no concrete plans to produce the gas?

[statbass]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Keep hearing about the amount of gas involved in NL oilfields, but as yet no concrete plans to produce the gas?

I've often wondered the same thing. Oil and gas reports released state we have billions (maybe even trillions) of cubic meters of natural gas, yet you hear nothing in terms natural gas development. Is there no appetite for natural gas development here? Is it not economically viable? Any one in the oil and gas sector here that would be able to answer this question?

To the best of my knowledge, the only offshore natural gas development in the region is Deep Panuke near Sable Island, NS. I believe it is being decommissioned now.

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by statbass

I've often wondered the same thing. Oil and gas reports released state we have billions (maybe even trillions) of cubic meters of natural gas, yet you hear nothing in terms natural gas development. Is there no appetite for natural gas development here? Is it not economically viable? Any one in the oil and gas sector here that would be able to answer this question?

To the best of my knowledge, the only offshore natural gas development in the region is Deep Panuke near Sable Island, NS. I believe it is being decommissioned now.

Yes, Deep Panuke off Nova Scotia is being decommissioned.

To the best of my knowledge, any gas finds off Newfoundland are not economically viable. Most of the gas that's in the fields here is re-injected to maintain reservoir pressure to keep oil production up. With natural gas prices these days, you'd need a massive gas find to get a project going and that's even in an area with more benign weather than here.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

Yes, Deep Panuke off Nova Scotia is being decommissioned.

To the best of my knowledge, any gas finds off Newfoundland are not economically viable. Most of the gas that's in the fields here is re-injected to maintain reservoir pressure to keep oil production up. With natural gas prices these days, you'd need a massive gas find to get a project going and that's even in an area with more benign weather than here.

Ah, I see. Thanks for clarifying.

So natural gas is used to help with oil production, but just not feasible to produce itself. I knew there were economic factors such as price weighing in too. It's just funny these reports always state the amount of natural gas, but I see the reason why - it would be advantageous for an oil company to know to help with oil production estimates, etc.

I guess the cost of liquifying, storage and offloading, not to mention cost of infrastructure/equipment just adds to the overall feasibility. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Hibernia and Hebron burn off their natural gas extraction as a byproduct?

[rthomasd]

The Muskrat Fall Inquiry documents ( P 00060 ) outlines a lot of the background case for / against offshore gas production. Basically for the size of our market onshore, it wouldn't be cost effective to use gas, we have very little gas usage and no in-ground infrastructure for distribution.

Not sure what all the platforms do, but I think the fixed platforms ( maybe all of them ) have mini production systems that 'produce' gas directly from the field, they then use that gas to power the platform electric generators ( megawatt sized ). Surplus gas from that production is either re-injected to the field to keep pressure up, or is stored in parts of the field for later extraction.

There is some gas flared off, but I don't know what percentage that is. Can't find any stats on that.

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by rthomasd

The Muskrat Fall Inquiry documents ( P 00060 ) outlines a lot of the background case for / against offshore gas production. Basically for the size of our market onshore, it wouldn't be cost effective to use gas, we have very little gas usage and no in-ground infrastructure for distribution.

Not sure what all the platforms do, but I think the fixed platforms ( maybe all of them ) have mini production systems that 'produce' gas directly from the field, they then use that gas to power the platform electric generators ( megawatt sized ). Surplus gas from that production is either re-injected to the field to keep pressure up, or is stored in parts of the field for later extraction.

There is some gas flared off, but I don't know what percentage that is. Can't find any stats on that.

With regards to gas production off Newfoundland, there are several factors against it. As you say our population is too small to make it worthwhile to market it. A pipeline would be too long, plus it would have to contend with icebergs.
Again, to the best of my knowledge, all of the production facilities utilize gas from the fields to power the platforms themselves - the remainder being re-injected. There is some flared, yes, but I wouldn't be able to put a figure on it.

If there were to be a gas development here it most likely (IMO) would be a LNG (liquefied natural gas) project where they compress the gas and it's shipped elsewhere by LNG carriers. An example below in the link.
https://www.offshore-technology.com/...shell-project/

[Offshore1]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...narl-1.5340723
I can't believe this doesn't already exist but this pipeline would be mutually beneficial to North Atlantic, the Transshipment facility and the province.