The hubbub surrounding deepwater presalt activity offshore Brazil and the clamor of the shale gale have all but drowned out reports of work that is going on in arctic technology development. Gaining access to the estimated 90 Bbbl of oil, 1.7 Tcf of gas, and 44 Bbbl of natural gas liquids in the Arctic will require significant advances in technology, which means a lot of money needs to go toward research.

An organization headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, is working to ensure R&D money is available for arctic technology development. Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC) is a not-for-profit organization that funds and facilitates collaborative petroleum-related R&D in Newfoundland and Labrador.

PRAC's funding members are operators of offshore licenses and include Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Husky Energy, Statoil, and Suncor Energy. Delegates from the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources, Nalcor Energy, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) also are members.

According to Dave Finn, PRAC COO, the organization's overarching goals are to improve regional prospectivity and reduce E&P costs for the regional petroleum industry.

One objective, Finn said, is "improving recovery in the Grand Banks."

Although the Jeanne d'Arc basin in the Grand Banks is not officially part of the Arctic, the harsh conditions allow it to be considered part of this region, which is home to Newfoundland and Labrador's three producing offshore fields: Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose. A fourth, ExxonMobil's heavy-oil Hebron field, is to come onstream in 2017 if the current development plan is carried out.

The Province has been able to maintain offshore activity with these sequential projects, Finn said, but for Newfoundland and Labrador to remain an area of interest and achieve sustainability as a player in the oil and gas industry, it has to have more than a few producing fields. He believes technology will be a big part of the answer to sustained interest in the region, and much of that technology will deal with the Arctic.

Arctic technology is a common need for companies operating in Atlantic Canada, he said, and PRAC will help fund technologies that advance arctic operations, enhance oil recovery in harsh-environment fields, and improve HSE.

A recent requirement in Newfoundland and Labrador is for operators to invest in local R&D that will allow the region to compete on an international level with established research organizations. PRAC will help to allocate these funds (which Finn said could amount to millions of dollars over the next 15 years) to local companies that qualify for grants.

"The Arctic presents huge challenges," Finn said. "We would love for Newfoundland and Labrador to play a continued role in its development."

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