Quebec and the Federal Government have entered an agreement to
give the province 100 per cent of the oil and gas royalties from
the portion of the Old Harry formation that lies within the
province's undersea boundary in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence.
The Old Harry formation, which may contain up to 2 billion barrels
of oil, straddles between the undersea boundaries of Quebec and
Newfoundland & Labrador. The agreement relies on the 1964
undersea boundary between the two provinces. Quebec Premier Jean
Charest indicated the agreement contains an arbitration clause to
deal with potential boundary disputes.
Quebec is under a self-imposed moratorium on offshore drilling
until 2012, and will continue its course despite the signing of the
agreement.
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