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Province Signs Deal on Hebron Oil Project
By Myles Higgins
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
A press conference is tentatively set for tomorrow morning to officially announce a deal between Newfoundland and Labrador and the oil consortium involved in negotiations over development of the Hebron oil project.
At this point all the details are not known but both NTV and CBC are confirming that the deal includes a 4.9% equity position for Newfoundland and Labrador and a "super" royalty regime, something that has not been accomplished on any of the currently existing projects.
It is expected that the new royalty regime may mean between 8 and 10 billion dollars for the province in addition to the potential revenue to come from its equity stake.
Talks broke off on the oil project more than a year ago after the province demanded an equity stake and refused to offer substantial tax breaks to the oil consortium headed by Chevron Canada.
At the time talks broke down pundits and analysts across Canada suggested that premier Danny Williams was being too hard nosed in his negotiations over the oil field that had been discovered and left undeveloped by the industry for over 20 years.
It was said at the time that he had killed the project and in doing so would end up hurting his province but with the support of his consituents Williams refused to accept that such a valuable resource would lay fallow for long.
As with any contract, the devil is in the details and over the next day or so, as more details are announced, the content of the contract will be discussed and analysed in further detail.
Myles Higgins is freelance columnist, who lives with his wife and a terminally lazy Terrier named "Molson" in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove - St. Philips, His website can be found at: Web Talk - Newfoundland and Labrador. Myles can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
