Hebron: The word from the ground

The Placentia Charter, another of the NL weekly Transcontinental papers, last week published an interesting story on the loss of Hebron called "To produce or not to produce – that is the question" .

The Placentia area would be ground-zero for much of the fabrication work that would have to be done to make Hebron a reality and so a major source of employment for local residents. It's little wonder that the local paper has a point of view on the way government has handled this matter.

It reads in part:

To not keep the door open would be catastrophic to the economy and some say that Premier Williams, though indirectly, did just that.

Several months ago Mr. Williams felt that not continuing with the ongoing oil and gas related discussions may be in the best interest of the province. Williams felt Newfoundland and Labrador could not get its fare share due to the tax structure and the royalty regime while dealing with companies such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Petro-Canada and Norsk Hydro.

These are not low-ball players like Mr. Williams may take them for. They will not stick around to play hard ball while other developments are taking place in the world that need their immediate attention.

The development of Hibernia South is considered to contain 220 million barrels of oil and would considerably add to the life of Hibernia for approximately 10 –12 years.

Why travel to Alberta and say ‘we are the best in the East for development’ while the premier is not even talking to the big players.

Much of the article takes a different point of view from many and compares and contrasts the situation in Norway with the situation here. This is a fine piece and is a good example of what these weeklies can produce.