Ruelokke finally on duty at offshore board

Almost 11 months after he was offered the job, Max Ruelokke began work Monday as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Ruelokke's appointment was held up when the provincial government refused to acknowledge the choice of Ruelokketo the CNLOPBover St. John's Mayor Andy Wells, whom Premier Danny Williams had endorsed as a scrappy opponent to large oil companies.

Ruelokke,who had been a senior civil servant before working in the oil industry, sought and won a court order enforcing his appointment this past summer, although the start date of his new role was held up —in part because the province considered an appeal that it ultimately did not pursue.

He said the strife of the last year is history, and that it won't affect how he deals with the job.

"That process is over and done with now and it's behind me," Ruelokke said."How I deal with the job … going forward is what's important now."

An arbitration panel picked him for the job after the federal and provincial governments could not agree on a common choice.

Pastyear an ordeal: Ruelokke

Ruelokke, who quit his job in the oil industry last December so he would not be in a conflict of interest, acknowledged that the last year has been an ordeal, although he said he had no regrets over fighting for the post.

"There might have been times when I felt like [giving up], for brief moments, but sanity returned," he told CBC News. "I'm not someone who is willing to give up something that he believes is his."

Fed up with waiting for his appointment to be ratified by the province, Ruelokke — who had obtained approval from the federal government — took the matter to the Newfoundland Supreme Court.

Justice Raymond Halley, who ruledin August that Ruelokke had been the de facto chairman and CEO since last December, described the provincial government's handling of the matter as "reprehensible."

In return, Williams suggested Halley "got up on the wrong side of the bed" before writing his decision. That remark drew criticism from lawyers and opposition politicians.

The CNLOPB is responsible for governing the offshore petroleum industry. Williams has said he wanted the regulator to take a tougher stand when dealing with oil companies.

Ruelokke said he will begin preparing for the next board meeting. He said one of the key issues on the CNLOPB's agenda is an application to develop Hibernia South, a formation adjacent to the Hibernia field, which went into production in 1997.