Wells's candid commentary draws more heat from oil board

The head of the board that regulates the oil industry off Newfoundland and Labrador's coastlines has filed a second complaint over board member Andy Wells.

Max Ruelokke had already complained that Wells's comments— published in the industry magazine Oilweek— were damaging the integrity of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the federal and provincial ministers of natural resources, Ruelokke said comments Wells made last week to the St. John's Telegram further hurt the CNLOPB's efforts.

Wells told reporters last week that he opposed other board members in his support of the province's stands on gaining an equity stake in the pending Hebron development and instituting so-called "fallow field" legislation, which would force oil companies to develop a field within a set period of time.

"To my knowledge, no member of this board, except Mr. Wells, has expressed any position on these matters," Ruelokke wrote in a letter to federal minister Gary Lunn and provincial minister Kathy Dunderdale.

"Impartiality is a central tenet of any regulator, and Mr. Wells' statements question the impartiality of the board."

Ruelokke, who released the letter to the media, has called on Wells to withdraw his comments.

Wells— the St. John's mayor who had been Premier Danny Williams's choice to head the CNLOPB last year in a dispute that saw Ruelokke win a court order enforcing his appointment— has not minced words about Ruelokke before.

"He can get stuffed on that," Wells told CBC News last week, describing Ruelokke's first letter.