QUEBEC — Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel is maintaining the suspense around the new government’s position on the oil and gas issue.
The Liberal government is preparing a “comprehensive and integrated” approach to petroleum questions, Heurtel said Monday. That includes oil exploration on Anticosti Island, he said.
While there are calls for the government to submit TransCanada’s proposed Energy East oil pipeline to an environmental evaluation, Heurtel said no decision has yet been made.
He referred questions about shale-gas exploration and production, which are under a quasi-moratorium until June, to Natural Resources Minister Pierre Arcand.
Heurtel said the question of oil on Anticosti Island is among the subjects that the government is studying.
During the election campaign, Premier Philippe Couillard said an environmental evaluation would be done on oil exploration on Anticosti.
“Currently the entire petroleum sector is being studied, and in the coming weeks we will make our intentions clear as a government,” Heurtel said. “What is guiding us is a comprehensive and integrated approach.”