A few dry holes should not be discouraging in a frontier basin. Greg Noval, president and CEO of independent Canadian Superior, told participants at the Canadian Offshore Resources Exhibition and conference in Halifax that his company sees tremendous potential off Nova Scotia. "We're very upbeat about Nova Scotia or we wouldn't be here," Noval said. "It is the last great mega-play in North America."
Despite the high cost of drilling offshore Canada, which Noval pointed out is twice as high as drilling off Trinidad and Tobago, the seismic data has kept Canadian Superior's interest high. In fact, Canadian Superior is planning to begin drilling in the next 30-40 days, Noval said.
With majors and supermajors with global portfolios moving more slowly than the independents, Noval predicts that independents like Canadian Superior will be the first to find the elephants in the Eastern Atlantic. "Big companies are sometimes whiners," Noval said, but that is not a bad thing for independents. "Every time a big guy whines and says he's going to leave town, it creates an opportunity for independents," Noval said. "We're not here to whine. We're here to produce some results."
Most of the recent drilling off Nova Scotia has not found hydrocarbons. But the dry holes to date have provided critical information that has been evaluated in making the decision for subsequent drilling, according to Noval. "I think Nova Scotia is truly a world class basin," he said.
10/15/03
