Mr. Speaker, on October 19 the Minister of Natural Resources in the House assured hon. members that her government anticipates a reasonable and fair rate of return on Canada's investment in Hibernia. However, in a letter from Ken Hull, president of the Hibernia Management and Development Company, dated June 1994, he said:
Sufficient revenues will be generated to cover all gross capital and operating costs, but no return on investment.
Even this statement is suspect. If one cares to do some simple arithmetic on the project simply take $16 billion, which is the total cost of the project, divide it by 615 million barrels of recoverable reserves and one gets a figure of $20.75 per barrel. With today's oil priced at $17.55 per barrel, it is not only difficult to see any return on investment, it is difficult to see how the project will cover capital costs.
It would be nice if the minister might one day explain these inconsistencies.