Williams chafed by PM's stance on oil standoff

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams says he is giving up on getting help from Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the province'sstandoff over the Hebron oil field.

Williams first appealed to Harper for Ottawa's assistance in April, shortly after negotiations between the provincial government and the field's owners broke off over the premier's demand for an ownership stake in the development.

In a letter sent two months ago, Williams also asked Harper to give the Hebron partners investment tax credits and to help pass so-called fallow field legislation, which would set a time limit for oil companies to develop projects.

Harper indicated in April that he didn't see a role for the federal government.

Williams heard nothing from Harper until Friday morning and said hewas outraged by Harper's response, which again said Ottawa had no role to play.

"Federal intervention in this type of commercial arrangement would be inconsistent with the market principles the government of Canada is promoting," Harper wrote.

"The commercial matters you raise can only be resolved by the parties to the negotiation," Harper's letter said.

"I find that disgusting, disgraceful and shameful, quite honestly, when a federal government will not stand behind a member of the federation, a province," Williams told reporters Friday.

Before he received the letter Friday morning, Williams had assumed Harper had no interest in the issue.

"The fact that the prime minister is not supporting me on the whole fallow field exercise and legislation, the only explanation I can see is obviously he's a supporter of big oil," Williams said Thursday.

"And if he wants to be a big buddy to big oil, that's for him to decide."

Tough stand

Williams upset companies that depend on the oil industry with a tough stance on Hebron. The field's partners have said they are prepared to wait years, if necessary, for a provincial government that will accept its terms.

Williams claims Hebron could have been back on schedule by now if Harper had stepped in last spring, but he says he does not need Harper's support to push for other developments.

Williams maintains that Ottawa has profited off the backs of Newfoundland and Labrador's burgeoning oil industry, but has never been supportive of any stance it has taken.

"So the government of Canada, which is reaping huge benefits from the offshore oil and gas of Newfoundland and Labrador through Hibernia and other projects, is not prepared to step up to assist us, well then, that's their choice," Williams told CBC News.

Meanwhile, Williams said he believes the Hebron oil partners are now reconsidering their position.

However, Chevron — the lead company involved in Hebron— announced this week an enormous discovery it and its partners made in the Gulf of Mexico.