Sure.
A quick look at the exploration chart that I've provided shows that in Atlantic Canada, and in Newfoundland in particular, the number of exploration wells was significantly high in the 1970s and into the 1980s, with a drop-off in the early 1990s and relatively sporadic activity since then. In the last 20 years, we've averaged probably about two wells a year or less.
What can the Government of Canada do to help improve on this exploration record? Certainly one thing is funding of the GSC to improve resource assessment and create basin atlases is a very important step. You can question me on that if you wish.
There are other regulatory impediments under the Coasting Trade Act and the Transport Canada regulations that create difficulty in bring seismic vessels into early exploration work. That's another important area.
We also have issues around land tenure policy. Basically, in Canada a significant discovery is held in perpetuity, so in terms of incentive to develop, it's really up to the oil companies to decide when to develop a particular resource discovery.
The other issue is in terms of our access to infrastructure, which is important. Small finds will remain undeveloped unless there is a regime to give other companies access to infrastructure to produce from small fields.
To sum up, exploration is a rate-determining step for the oil and gas industry. Without exploration there'll be no new discoveries, no new developments, and no contribution of major capital projects in the region. No new production can come on stream to replace depleting reserves, and in order to provide a sustained opportunity and to maximize the return to the Government of Canada and to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of royalties and revenues, we need more exploration. Certainly that's one area the Government of Canada can really assist with, and this will have an impact on our energy security in the long term.