As Greenland drills for oil, Nunavut frets

The Stena Forth drill ship is seen at sea in an undated handout image. The Forth will be one of two ships to drill off Greenland’s Disko Island this summer. (PHOTO COURTESY OF STENA DRILLING)

Oil could one day power Greenland along the path to independence. It could also one day wash up on the rocky shores of Baffin Island.

The drilling of exploratory wells off Disko Island, on Greenland’s west coast, less than 450 kilometres from Qikiqtarjuaq, is a major moment for Greenland’s dreams of independence from Denmark.

Greenland’s home rule government is eager to start replacing the $500 million it gets from Denmark every year with royalties from offshore oil and gas projects.

Earlier this month, the home rule government handed out 14 exploration licenses to 12 international oil companies, who will scour 151,000 square kilomtres — an area the size of England and Wales —for oil and gas.

Cairn Energy, a Scottish company, will drill the first exploratory wells 150 to 200 kilometres off Disko Island this summer.

“Development of oil activities is one of the most important areas, if we are to create enough revenues to replace the block subsidy from Denmark,” said Ove Karl Berthelsen, minister for Industry and Mineral Resources in a statement last year.

“The overwhelming interest… from oil companies is a convincing signal that the industry believes in the oil potential in north-west Greenland.”

But a catastrophic oil spill off the coast of Louisana caused millions of litres of crude oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico

New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington and Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell all brought up Greenland oil drilling during Question Period in the House of Commons last week.

Responding to a question from Layton, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada has tougher oil drilling rules than the United States, making a calamity like the Gulf Coast spill much less likely.

“The National Energy Board does not allow drilling unless it is convinced that the safety of the environment and the safety of workers can be assured,” Harper said.

But that’s not good enough for James Eetoolook, first vice president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. While he acknowledged tighter regulations in Canada, he’s worried about Nunavut’s lack of capacity to respond to major oil spills.

“I think that disaster in the Gulf [of Mexico] means we need good regulations and response teams,” he said.

The Canadian Coast Guard is sending sealift container-sized oil spill kits to 59 Northern communities this summer, including 19 in Nunavut.

A Coast Guard information sheet on the project says the kits will be tailored for each community, but will include gear like oil booms to contain spills on the water, and “flush kits” to purge oil from beaches and shorelines.

But it’s not clear if those kits would be enough for local authorities to respond to a major oil spill from a well.

The Coast Guard will take part in a large-scale oil spill exercise in the High Arctic this summer during Operation Nanook.

David Nisbet, a spokesman for Cairn Energy, said he understands the public concern about Arctic drilling in light of the Gulf Coast catastrophe, but said his company is going to great lengths to avoid accidents.

Cairn will send drill ships to the site this summer, one specifically tasked to drill relief wells. Relief wells are drilled into existing wells that are blowing out, using a denser-than-oil liquid to stop the uncontrolled flow of oil.

Nisbet said the drill ships will be accompanied by ice monitors and other support ships.

“We’re using the best available talent and equipment,” Nisbet said. “We’re very conscious of our responsibility.”

And Nisbet points out Cairn is drilling exploratory wells and predicts one in 10 odds the company will actually strike oil.

“The U.S. Geological Survey have said [Disko Island] is one of the top 10 yet-to-find hydrocarbon destinations anywhere in the world, but equally, there could be nothing,” he said.

Earle Baddaloo, Nunavut’s assistant deputy environment minister, said the territory supports offshore oil development in Canada, as long as relief wells are a requirement.

But Baddaloo said a National Energy Board policy review on offshore drilling practices should be done until more information about the cause of the Gulf Coast spill is known.

“We [Nunavut] definitely don’t have the capabilities to address a massive or significant spill as the one that occurred in the Gulf.”

In the meantime, Baddaloo said it’s the job of the federal government, not Nunavut, to enforce regulations on oil drilling in the Canadian Arctic.

There are no offshore oil drilling projects currently underway in the eastern Arctic, but the federal department of Natural Resources will conduct seismic testing in Lancaster Sound this summer to check the potential for oil and gas development.

On Friday, Bagnell, the Yukon MP, called on Ottawa to impose a moratorium on oil and gas leases in Lancaster Sound and the Beaufort Sea.

“There is no technology in place to clean up an oil spill under Arctic ice,” Bagnell said in a news release.

But it’s likely just a matter of time until drills find their way into Canada’s Arctic seabed.

Nunavut too has dreams of more economic independence, and Ottawa’s recent investments in the North seem to be made in the understanding that oil and gas revenues are the eventual payback.

“The North is rich with oil and gas and that needs to be tapped,” Eetoolook said.