Deepsea drilling regulator grilled by MPs

Federal MPs raised questions Tuesday about whether an exploratory drill off Newfoundland's east coast is safe.

Chevron Canada began work this month on a well north of the Grand Banks, just weeks after the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout that has sent thousands of barrels spewing daily into the Gulf of Mexico.

At a hearing Tuesday of the standing committee on natural resources, New Democratic MP Nathan Cullen questioned whether appropriate oversight has been given to the Chevron Canada drill, which is aimed at sea floor about 2,600 metres under the ocean surface.

"If there's some piece of that malfunction being employed in deepwater drilling in Canada, would it not be prudent or conservative to suggest a pause to the company drilling an even deeper well than in the Gulf? We certainly gave that some consideration," said Cullen, a B.C. MP.

The question was aimed at Max Ruelokke, the chief executive officer of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, which regulates the offshore oil industry and last week tightened the rules that Chevron Canada must follow on the Orphan Basin drill.

Ruelokke told MPs that the regime governing Newfoundland and Labrador's oil industry already includes governance measures that have been suggested in the U.S., and that blowout preventers in Canada are subject to more rigorous testing.

However, Craig Stewart, a director with the World Wildlife Fund, told MPs that Canada issues exploration leases without the scrutiny that even BP, which owns the Deepwater Horizon well, faced in the U.S.

"There is ministerial discretion and there is no documentation at the front end to make sure that leases are placed in appropriate areas," Stewart said.

The WWF, meanwhile, said the regulatory review into offshore drilling in the Arctic should be expanded, noting that offshore drilling in the country involves what it called a "fragmented regulatory framework."