N.L. premier signs Hebron offshore oil deal

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is estimating the province will gain $20 billion in royalties and up to 3,000 jobs from the Hebron offshore oil project.

In a ceremony today, the province signed a formal agreement with an oil consortium - including ExxonMobil, Chevron Resources, Petro-Canada and Norsk Hydro -- outlining details of the benefits the province will receive during the project's 25-year lifespan.

The royalties estimate is based on a projection that oil would be worth $87 per barrel.

The government also says that during the peak construction period there will up to 3,000 jobs created in the province. The oil is expected to start pumping in 2017.

Ed Martin, president of the province's energy corporation, says the work building the concrete base of the huge rig will be carried out at Bull Arm, N.L., the site where the Hibernia platform was built in the late 1990s.

Portions of the top half of the production platform, known as the `topsides,' will be put out to tender.

Source:CTV