Call for bids, acreage release, rights issuance, and block offers are different phrases that describe when parcels of ocean floor are identified as potential areas of oil and gas. If a company has a successful bid, it will undertake exploration drilling and if a significant discovery is made, oil or gas production can last for decades. These processes operate in the context of marine ecosystems that are under stress and pressure to find new oil fields which in turn can result in increased conflicts with other marine sectors and conservation goals. Thus, the block offer step is a critical policy moment—any future offshore oil production, and the resulting ecological pressure particularly on fragile marine environments, hinges on this decision point.
Research team and methodology
For the past seven years, Professors Gail Fraser (ecology, marine environmental management – EUC), Angela Carter (political science – Memorial University of Newfoundland); and Joanne Ellis (marine ecology, marine ecosystem services – Waikato University, Aotearoa-New Zealand) in a SSHRC Insight project assessed decision-making processes and outcomes on offshore oil exploratory drilling and marine protected areas in comparative developed state cases. The project studied offshore oil and gas block offers in Canada (Newfoundland and Nova Scotia), Australia (Western Australia), Aotearoa-New Zealand, and Scotland, specifically focusing how they intersect with marine protected areas (MPAs). Interviews were conducted with government, fishers, environmental NGOs, and Indigenous groups in each country which was an incredible way to learn from the folks on the ground.
Three graduate students and one research associate also contributed to the project. Anuja Kapoor (MES 2020) worked on the Nova Scotia case (Kapoor et al. 2021, 2022). Kapoor went on to be hired as a Senior Policy Advisor at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Manuela-Perez Guzman (MES 2025) tackled the Scotland case and has a paper in review in the Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems journal.
Jessica Rutherford (Waikato University) is wrapping up her PhD on the Australia and Aotearoa-NZ cases. One of Rutherford’s thesis chapters was accepted for publication in The Extractive Industries and Society journal (Rutherford et al. in press). Research Associate Choyon Saha (EUC) worked on the Newfoundland case and the work is already accepted for publication (Saha et al. in press). To ensure consistency in interview analyses, Rutherford led a coding workshop (interviews were coded under themes) for the team in St. John’s Newfoundland in 2024; and in 2025 Fraser, Ellis, and Carter had a writing workshop to work on a cross-case comparison paper.
Conclusion and outputs
Findings revealed that there were both subtle and overt differences among the countries studied in the acreage release processes and the level of protection from oil and gas development that MPAs received. However, perhaps not surprisingly, the research team found that across cases consultation processes were weak and failed to resolve conflicts, sector trade-offs were poorly understood, and petroleum interests were prioritized over biodiversity protection. It was concluded that there is an urgent need for broader marine planning processes that should include all sectors and conservation objectives.
Kapoor, A., G.S. Fraser and A. Carter, 2021.Marine conservation versus offshore oil and gas: Reconciling an intensifying dilemma in Atlantic Canada. Extractive Industries and Society.
Kapoor, A., G.S. Fraser, A. Carter and D. Brooks, 2022. Overcoming divisive Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) for offshore oil and gas in Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Environmental Assessment, Policy and Management 23(1): 2250012.
Rutherford, J., G.S. Fraser, A.V. Carter, C.A. Pilditch and J. Ellis, in press. Examining stakeholder engagement in New Zealand’s offshore petroleum governance. Extractive Industries and Society.
Saha, C., A.V. Carter, J. Rutherford, J. Ellis and G.S. Fraser, in press. Oil and gas production overriding marine conservation? Regulatory tensions at acreage release in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Ocean Yearbook.