Exploration licenses for offshore oil and gas exploration between Sable Island and the Gully Marine Protected Area (MPA) have been awarded to Inceptio Oil and Gas Limited by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER).
“Nova Scotia is back in the offshore oil and gas business. And this is not just talk. It is real investment in Nova Scotia’s offshore,” said Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston in a statement.
Inceptio submitted successful bids for two of the 13 parcels available in the CNSOER Call for Bids NS25-1P. No bids were received on the other 11 parcels.
Inceptio Oil and Gas submitted a total of $210,130,000 CAD in work expenditure bids. The work expenditure bid for Parcel 8 is $10,065,000 CAD. The work expenditure bid for Parcel 9 is $200,065,000 CAD.
“The sole criterion for assessing and selecting the successful bid is the total amount of money proposed to be expended on the exploration of the parcel within Period 1 of the term of the Exploration Licence (Work Expenditure Bid). The minimum bid that was considered is $10,000,000 of work expenditures,” said the CNSOER in a press release.
“Obtaining an Exploration Licence is the first step. Every operator that wants to conduct activities in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area must submit an application and an authorization must be granted before this work can begin. A project-specific Environmental Assessment (EA) or Impact Assessment (IA) would be required ahead of the CNSOER’s consideration of any subsequent application by an operator to carry out exploration activity on the Exploration Licence. The project-specific EA or IA would evaluate potential environmental effects specific to a proposed project and determine the precise mitigation measures that would be required, should the CNSOER ultimately grant an authorization to an operator to proceed with offshore activity. The CNSOER will ensure that any activity is conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner for the duration of the project,” the CNSOER said.
The decision to issue exploration licences to the successful bidder are subject to the federal and provincial Ministerial review and approval process set out in legislation.
“The CNSOER will issue the new Exploration Licences once the successful bidder satisfies the requirements specified in the petroleum-related Call for Bids NS25-1P terms and conditions and receives Ministerial approvals,” the regulator said.
In 2023, the federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Canada and the provincial Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables vetoed a decision pertaining to the issuance of Exploration Licence 2437 for Parcel 8 to Inceptio Limited in the Call for Bids NS22-1. The veto came two months after the exploration licence was issued.
Petroleum-related Call for Bids NS25-1P was issued on July 7, 2025, for 13 nominated parcels located on the central Scotian Shelf and Slope. It closed on April 28. An opportunity to submit written comments about the bid attracted 24 submissions in total — 10 submissions from organizations and 14 from individuals.
Several themes emerged from the submissions, said the CNSOER, including calling for an end to oil and gas in the Canada-Nova Scotia offshore area due to climate change and environmental concerns; oil and gas exploration and extraction is outdated, not in line with national climate policies and not worth the climate risk; oil and gas cannot exist with offshore wind — a focus should be placed on transitioning to renewable energy projects; and oil and gas development poses a risk to fishing access in parcel locations.
“Exclusion from these areas because of offshore energy development will result in direct and irrecoverable loss of fishing access. Ocean quahogs, like other clams, bury in sandy bottom after maturing out of their larval stage and are then immobile. They do not relocate to other areas and the biomass in that region cannot be made up by harvesting elsewhere… As the CNSOER considers bids for petroleum development on Sable Island Bank, it is imperative that the economic and environmental implications of such development on pre-established fisheries is carefully considered,” wrote Clearwater Seafoods in their submission to the CNSOER.
Clearwater Seafoods holds offshore fishing licences for scallop, lobster, groundfish, clams and Northern shrimp.
There were also comments in favour of offshore development of oil and gas — that for many years, it has been done safely and responsibly with importance given to parcel locations near marine protected areas.
“Should an exploratory licence (EL) be issued, it does not permit an operator to begin work offshore. An EL gives the licence holder the right to make an application to the CNSOER to drill on their EL. No exploration activity (e.g. seismic surveying, drilling) can take place without an authorization being granted by the CNSOER for that specific activity. Should we issue an EL and receive an application for activity, there are many things that we require before an activity authorization is granted” including a project-specific Environmental Assessment or Impact Assessment.
“Across our entire offshore margin, we believe there is the potential for 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 49 billion barrels of oil. That is the scale of the opportunity in front of us, across a number of other parcels that are still or yet to come out for bid on the energy market. All of it is potentially good news for you, your family and your community,” Premier Houston said in his statement that was in response to the CNSOER’s bid announcement.
“A bid is not just a number. It is a commitment to spend that amount of money exploring those parcels. It will be invested in seismic work and offshore exploration activity. It means more Nova Scotians working in oil and gas and fewer of them doing it while raising their families two weeks on, two weeks off. All of this means hope for families. It can also lead to revenue for the government, which means more to invest in doctors and healthcare, teachers and schools, roads, rinks and communities,” the Premier said.
“We have worked hard to restore confidence in our offshore. We have pushed to put Nova Scotia back into the global energy conversation, and with today’s news, we see that we are doing just that. Companies are noticing… Nova Scotia is on the path to becoming more self-sufficient, relying less on the United States for energy and on transfer payments into our province.”
Premier Houston said the Sable Offshore Energy Project and Deep Panuke Offshore Gas Project generated billions in economic activity, billions in revenue to the Province and thousands of jobs for Nova Scotians.
The Gully
The Gully MPA is Canada’s oldest MPA. Designated in May, 2004, the 2,363 km2 MPA is located approximately 200 kilometres off Nova Scotia to the east of Sable Island on the edge of the Scotian Shelf. Over 65 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide, the Gully is the largest underwater canyon in the western North Atlantic.
The Gully ecosystem encompasses shallow sandy banks, a deep-water canyon environment and portions of the continental slope and abyssal plain. This area provides habitat for a wide diversity of species. Water circulation patterns and hydrography strongly influence the distribution of nutrients along the canyon and can fuel primary productivity, (a process where inorganic substances are synthesized by organisms to produce simple organic materials) in the Gully.
The Gully is home to the endangered Scotian Shelf population of Northern bottlenose whales and is an important habitat for 15 other species of whales and dolphins. Tiny plankton, a variety of fish such as sharks, tunas and swordfish, and seabirds inhabit surface waters, while halibut, skates, cusk and lanternfish can be found as deep as one kilometre.
The region around the Gully also supports a number of commercial fisheries and was once of interest to the oil and gas industry.
