Offshore Petroleum Politics

Book excerpt: The extraction of oil and gas from offshore continental shelves represents one of the most dynamic sectors of global petroleum development. It is also one of the most complex. Atlantic Canada is no exception and the history of Scotian Basin petroleum over the past half century reveals a fascinating series of political challenges, accommodations, and settlements. Peter Clancy’s comprehensive analysis of petroleum politics in Nova Scotia demonstrates the complex intergovernmental and intercorporate relationships, ecological concerns, and Aboriginal interests that have complicated offshore development. Among the analytic themes he addresses are institutional adaptation and rigidity, “basin development” as a policy challenge, the strong and weak characteristics of the offshore state, and the shifting shapes of the offshore polity. His incisive analysis of the complex politics at play provides new insights into the unique challenges facing the petroleum industry in Atlantic Canada.