Meanwhile, Memorial University of Newfoundland is playing a significant role in one of the most advanced data transfer networks in the world. The IceLink project is an ultra high-speed research circuit linking Canada and the United States directly to the Nordic countries of Europe through the Greenland connection. The network will allow greater communication and data sharing between Canadian researchers and scientists at universities, hospitals and other research centres and the rest of the world.
That fits in with Howard’s vision of the importance of the cable link. “We can leverage that fibre optic link beyond our cultural connection into healthcare, education, fishing technology and data intensive oil communication like seismotic data.” He reels the list off quickly.
He sees the new fibre optic link as merely the start when it comes to Greenland’s potential interest for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and the key to unlocking that potential is natural resources.
The Greenland government is actively soliciting oil exploration and drilling bids through Nunaoil, the government-owned national oil company. In the last round of bidding 42 companies qualified, including Exxon, Husky, Chevron and many of the other players in Newfoundland’s oil industry. This summer, a year earlier than originally announced, Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy will begin drilling in the Disko Basin, a field to the west of Greenland believed to contain 7-to-8-billion barrels of oil (by comparison Hebron is believed to contain about 580-million barrels).
As Howard explains it, Newfoundland has already developed great supply infrastructure for North Atlantic oil extraction. In the same way that Norway and Aberdeen became players in Newfoundland in the 1980s, by getting in on the ground floor, so too can Newfoundland become a player in Greenland’s nascent oil industry.
Bob Cadigan, president and CEO of NOIA (Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association) agrees. “We have a very vibrant supply and service sector and we’ve pioneered Arctic work, especially in ice monitoring and ice management. We have experience in our own environment and in drilling on the Labrador shelf in the 1980s and so we know about impediments like iceberg scouring and the disruption of subsea equipment as well as what are manageable risks.”
That experience, plus the fact that many of the oil companies interested in Greenland have already established relations with Newfoundland companies, could be enough to put Newfoundland ahead of the pack.
Newfoundland also has an advantage in its proximity to Greenland. A supply ship could do a return run from St. John’s to Greenland in 11 days with one day for unloading. A similar trip from Aberdeen, for example, would take 17 days. That means companies can keep one less boat on the route if they resupply in St. John’s, saving a lot of money as well as time. And though it may be only a minor advantage, Newfoundland standard time is only half an hour different from Greenland time.
However, Cadigan warns against complacency. “Here we’re protected by the Atlantic Accord, but we’d be competing internationally in Greenland and the competition is very heavy.”
Cairn’s drill ship is coming from the Gulf of Mexico and the semi-submersible originates in Scotland. Cadigan contends that point of origin influences where backup and support are sought. Nonetheless, he remains optimistic that Newfoundland can have a significant role to play in the development of Greenland’s oil industry, believing that even if companies initially do not have plans to use the resources available in Newfoundland, they will end up using them eventually. “We have two advantages,” he says firmly. “Where we are, and our harsh environment expertise.”
Certainly the provincial government seems willing to contribute towards developing closer ties between the two North Atlantic islands. Trade Minister Shawn Skinner sees Greenland as fitting into a scheme whereby Newfoundland and Labrador is able to position itself as a northern gateway as well as an eastern one. “This is an opportunity and we have to make some investments,” he says. “We’re still very much in the embryonic stage, but there’s some interesting potential and we’re willing to support our industries and help with trade missions and exploration in Greenland.”
Skinner sees opportunities that stretch beyond servicing the oil industry. He talks about housing, mining, forestry and even boat-building as niches that Newfoundland companies can potentially fill. “This is a long term proposition,” he concludes. “We’re planting the seeds for 10 to 15 years from now.”
