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The Trudeau government has given the green light to a new offshore exploration project east of Newfoundland and Labrador, part of a renewed flurry of activity slated for the deep waters off Canada’s easternmost province.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson approved the proposal by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) Petroleum North America ULC earlier this month following an environmental assessment process.

The company, a division of China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, can now obtain permits to begin the hunt for oil and has under the sea floor.

CNOOC is one of several oil and gas firms planning to spend billions exploring the offshore area as fresh research signals the potential for significant amounts of hydrocarbons offshore.

The recent assessment showed Newfoundland’s offshore potential could exceed 50 billion barrels of oil and 200 trillion cubic feet of gas.

“We expect to see at least eight wells drilled in the next year and a half, and as many as 100 over the next decade,” Paul Barnes with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said in an interview Friday.

CNOOC is expected to be a major player in the search for hydrocarbons off the Newfoundland coast.

A spokeswoman said the company is “very pleased to have received formal approval of our environmental assessment application.”

“Our focus will now shift to completing the conditions set out in the decision statement and continue to progress our drilling plans for our licences,” Margaret-Anne Lee said in an email Friday.

In approving the drilling project, Ottawa set more than a hundred conditions the company must comply with, including measures to protect fish and fish habitat, migratory birds and the use of lands and resources by Indigenous Peoples.

The project is expected to start in 2020 and take place over eight years.

Up to 200 people are expected to work on the offshore drilling rigs during exploration, with additional workers involved in support activities.

Provincial Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady called the federal government’s decision to approve CNOOC’s exploration drilling project “great news.”

“This is the first time this company has operated in our offshore and we welcome them,” she said in an emailed statement Friday.

“This means jobs created for the people of our province and growth in our oil and gas industry.”

Coady said the province has attracted eight new entrants to our offshore, and close to $4 billion in recent exploration work commitments.