Federal money funnelled into Beaufort Sea drilling

Wednesday September 1, 2010

By Vivian Belik

Ottawa is spending $21.8 million in the Yukon to research offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea.

The five-year funding deal will go towards the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment project, one of many projects to study the potential for exploiting oil and gas resources in the region.

The scientific program will address spill preparedness and response and engineering requirements for safe operations, according to a news release from Energy, Mines and Resources.

It will also research new waste-management technologies and monitoring and assessment systems.

A concern for oil and gas exploration in the area was raised following this summer’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company responsible for that spill - British Petroleum - acquired three offshore drilling licences in the Beaufort Sea in 2008.

Both the Yukon government and the National Energy Board regulate drilling requirements in the Arctic.