BP secures rights to Canadian blocks

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LONDON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- British energy company BP announced it was the successful bidder for deep-water blocks off the eastern coast of Canada.

BP was informed by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board that it was the successful bidder for four blocks about 185 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. Water depths range from 328 feet to more than 9,800 feet.

"This award gives us access to a significant piece of geology, one of the most promising new deep-water areas to be licensed in recent years," Mike Daly, a vice president for exploration at BP, said in a statement.

BP didn't provide a reserve estimate for the blocks.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the country's first offshore project, Cohasset-Panuke, produced from the region more than 44 million barrels of crude oil in a seven-year period that ended in December 1999.

The Nova Scotia government said its Sable offshore project is tapping into one of the largest offshore natural gas deposits in North America. Six major fields there are estimated to contain at least 2.1 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas reserves.