N.S. natural gas production at all-time low
New figures show the volume of natural gas produced so far this year from offshore fields near Sable Island are the lowest since production began in 1999.
New figures from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board show the volume of natural gas produced so far this year from offshore fields near Sable Island are the lowest since production began in 1999.
Gas production was down 14 per cent from 2009, a year in which royalties to the province peaked at $450 million.
ExxonMobil's Sable Offshore Energy Project pumped 1.67 billion cubic metres of gas in the first six months of this year.
ExxonMobil announced earlier this month that it will not extend the life of the project, saying the decision was based on "project economics."
The project has generated $1.3 billion in royalties for the province since production began more than ten years ago.
Nova Scotia's only other natural gas project is slated to come online in early 2011. EnCana will produce natural gas from the Deep Panuke field, located about 250 kilometres southeast of Halifax on the Scotian shelf.