Primary Beneficiaries: Newfoundland and Nova Scotia\u27s Struggle to Achieve the Promise of Petroleum Wealth

This paper provides an overview of some key issues which have arisen since the implementation of political resolutions to the contentious issue of offshore governance. Through an examination of: i) the role of the Petroleum Boards which manage offshore development; ii) the royalty and benefits regimes in place offshore Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; iii) the impact of the federal equalization scheme on provincial offshore revenues; and iv) some critical perspectives of the current offshore governance arrangements, this paper provides a background for the larger question of whether, in fact, the provinces have achieved the status of “primary beneficiaries” as originally envisioned by the provincial and federal governments. While this question is not conclusively answered herein, the suggestion made is that, from the perspective of maximizing benefits for the provinces, the management regimes currently in place invite room for significant improvements