By the most conservative estimates, millions of litres of oil have already spilled in the Gulf of Mexico following a rig explosion last month. But what does the environmental catastrophe mean for future oil projects in B.C.?
Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom told reporters on Monday the Gulf of Mexico disaster was not necessarily "a game changer," and that the province would still consider offshore oil exploration.
"If it can be pursued in an environmentally sound and scientifically safe way, I think we would look at that," he said.
Offshore drilling offers clear financial gains; Natural Resources Canada has assessed between $80 and $120 billion in oil is sitting in the Queen Charlotte Basin, one potential drilling target.
But environmental and First Nations groups have declared staunch opposition to the project, arguing the potential for devastating fallout is too great to proceed.
Avoiding spills
Lekstrom says the cause of the current spill – which is expected to take another week to plug and whose impact could rival the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 – is still unknown, but his ministry will be paying close attention to any mistakes that can be improved upon.
"This is not about extracting a resource at any cost," he said. "I don't support that. I don't know anybody that does."
NDP energy critic John Horgan argues that the owner of the ruptured rig, BP plc, is no amateur in the extraction game and that true safeguards do not exist.
"They know what they're doing, and despite that experience catastrophe is just one accident away," he said.
The environmental impacts of Exxon Valdez are still being felt on the north coast 20 years on, Horgan added.
"It's not like you dropped the jam drawer in the kitchen and you're going to mop it up. This is a big deal, it's just folly to even consider drilling."
For now, both the federal and provincial governments have a moratorium on drilling off the West Coast, but the B.C. government has long said it would lift its ban as soon as the federal government does.
