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By Julio Mejía and Elmira Aliakbari
The Houston government recently granted the first offshore natural gas exploration rights in years and opened public consultations on onshore development, reigniting debate over the risks and rewards of developing Nova Scotia’s natural gas resources. But before the lines harden, Nova Scotians should understand the facts despite any fear mongering.
Nova Scotia holds substantial natural gas reserves, which if developed could provide centuries of natural gas consumption in Atlantic Canada (based on current consumption levels). But after both the Sable Offshore Energy Project and Deep Panuke Offshore Gas Project ended production in 2018, the province stopped producing natural gas of its own. Since then, it has depended on gas produced in the Appalachian Basin (United States) and Western Canada and delivered via pipeline through the U.S., and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped to the Saint John terminal in New Brunswick from suppliers as far away as Australia.
The heavy reliance on imports, combined with limited infrastructure to meet peak demand, has left Nova Scotia—and the Atlantic region—facing some of the highest natural gas prices in the world during the winter. Developing the province’s natural gas resources could help reduce costs for households and businesses while allowing Nova Scotia to shift from importer to exporter. In fact, Nova Scotia has many geographic advantages. Its cooler climate could help reduce the cost of liquefying natural gas while its ports are roughly half the distance to Europe compared with most North American LNG export terminals. But seizing the opportunity depends on unlocking largely undeveloped resources.
Most of Nova Scotia’s offshore natural gas—estimated at up to 148 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), roughly 50 times Canada’s 2024 natural gas consumption— remains off-limits due to government bans. Yet the recent exploration rights granted to Inceptio Oil & Gas over only a small area of the ocean floor have already secured a commitment of $210 million in initial investment. Meanwhile, if the Houston government’s recent public consultation on onshore development leads to a workable framework for exploration and production, it could help unlock natural gas resources with a potential value of $ 47 billion to $190 billion.
This represents a potential windfall in investment, jobs and broader economic opportunities in a province where higher wages are badly needed. Incomes in Nova Scotia are among the lowest in Canada and the U.S., ranking third from the bottom among the 10 provinces and 50 U.S. states. Considering oil and gas workers earn (on average) more than twice as much as workers across other industries in Canada, expanding opportunities in this sector would help raise living standards across the province.
And the evidence suggests natural gas development can be carried out safely and responsibly.
Nova Scotia already has more than two decades of offshore natural gas exploration and development behind it, supported by a strong safety and environmental record. Onshore development, however, raises different concerns because extraction would likely require hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a process that uses high-pressure water, sand and chemicals to break underground rock and release gas. But despite fear mongering from certain precincts, fracking has been used in oil and gas production for more than 70 years, with large-scale applications expanding significantly over the past two decades across North America. In Alberta, the technology has been safely used in more than 180,000 oil and gas wells since the 1950s. And according to a recent comprehensive review of the scientific literature on fracking’s effect on human health and the environment, the risks are manageable with sound operational practices and modern engineering approaches.
The potential to lower energy costs, improve energy security and boost economic growth is right beneath Nova Scotians’ feet. With proper design and execution, Nova Scotia can safely unlock it.
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