National Energy Board announces review of Arctic safety and environmental
offshore drilling requirements

CALGARY, May 11 /CNW/ - The National Energy Board today announced it is starting a review of Arctic safety and environmental offshore drilling requirements in light of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"We need to learn from what happened in the Gulf," NEB Chair Gaétan Caron said. "The information taken from this unfortunate situation will enhance our safety and environmental oversight."

Full details of the review will be announced in the near future, when the focus in the Gulf of Mexico shifts from stopping the leak and protecting the environment to understanding what happened. The process will be public and consultative. The NEB will welcome the participation of other regulators in this process.

With this decision, the Board cancelled its process that was looking into same season relief well capability in the Arctic.

Currently, there is no offshore drilling in Canada's Arctic and no applications for drilling are before the NEB.

The NEB is an independent federal agency that regulates several parts of Canada's energy industry. Its purpose is to regulate pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest.

This news release is available on the NEB's Internet site at www.neb-one.gc.ca under What's New!

For further information: Sarah Kiley ([email protected]), Communications Officer, Telephone: [phone], TTY (teletype): 1-800-632-1663