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Since 1990, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board has been the regulator of oil and gas activities in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area.

We are an independent joint agency created by the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia. We oversee all activities through the lifecycle of an offshore oil or gas project, from exploration through development and finally to abandonment. We do this by recognizing that safety and environmental protection are paramount and we make sure the operators who work in our offshore area do too.

The governments establish the legislation that sets out the rules that oil and gas companies must follow. To this end, the governments have enacted the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Resources Accord Implementation Acts (Accord Acts), along with a number of supporting regulations. Our job is to ensure compliance with these legislated requirements so that exploration and development of our offshore resources are carried out safely and responsibly.

When it comes to any offshore oil and gas activity that an operator proposes to conduct in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area, we go to great lengths to ensure that strict requirements are met before granting an authorization that would allow such activities to commence. We then put in place effective monitoring programs to confirm that operators comply with these requirements during the execution of a program.

Our main responsibilities include:

•   Health and safety of offshore workers

•   Protection of the environment

•   Management and conservation of petroleum resources

•   Canada-Nova Scotia employment and industrial benefits

•   Issuance of licences for exploration and development