Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 23:00
AFP News Briefs ListChevron to develop Newfoundland's Hebron oil field
Canada's Newfoundland province will sign a final deal Wednesday with a consortium led by US giant Chevron to develop its fourth offshore oil field, worth billions of dollars, the government said Tuesday.
Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams and his energy minister will be on hand with oil company executives in the provincial capital St. John's for a signing ceremony at noon on Wednesday, his office said in a statement.
The Hebron field was discovered in 1981 about 350 kilometres (220 miles) offshore from St. John's, and is said to hold more than 700 million recoverable barrels of oil.
Chevron, with a 28-percent stake in the project, is its designated operator, according to a memorandum of understanding. ExxonMobil has the greatest ownership stake, at 37.9 percent, followed by Petro-Canada and Norsk Hydro.
The final agreement will come one year after Williams prodded oil companies in a fierce public battle to cough up a bigger share of revenues from the project; the firms eventually agreed to give Newfoundland a 4.9-percent stake in the field for 110 million dollars.
As well, the province said it would receive 16 billion dollars in royalties over 25 years from the project.
Images
Chevron logo seen at a Chevron gas station in San Francisco, California. Canada's Newfoundland province will sign a final deal Wednesday with a consortium led by US giant Chevron to develop its fourth offshore oil field, worth billions of dollars, the government said Tuesday.
© 2007 AFP Justin Sullivan
