Holt Liberals will review lifting natural gas moratorium

The Holt government has announced the first steps toward lifting a 12-year moratorium on shale gas development in New Brunswick.

Premier Susan Holt says the province will launch a five-month review of whether the five conditions for lifting that ban “still reflect today’s science, technology, market and regulatory best practices.”

Holt told a news conference Wednesday that economic pressure, including from U.S. tariffs, require “being willing to ask difficult questions.” 

“This is, in fact, the start of a conversation,” the premier said.

“This is not a green light to start getting drills in the ground. This is a deliberate 5 month long dialogue with many partners in our province and with you as New Brunswickers to determine if this is something we want to move forward with together.

“We will be showing you our work. We want you to be a part of that process.” 

Holt said the province will announce the outcome of the review in January 2027, and the government will report monthly on progress.

There is no private-sector company with a specific proposal that would move ahead if the review led to lifting the moratorium, she said.

The review will consider Indigenous rights, the size and type of natural gas deposits in the province, the latest science on health and environmental impacts, the potential economic benefits and whether public support exists for shale gas development. 

In 2014, the Liberal premier at the time, Brian Gallant, imposed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the province.

Gallant set out five conditions at the time for lifting the moratorium, including obtaining “social licence” from the population and holding meaningful consultations with First Nations.

The five points covered in the new review align with those conditions. 

Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson said the province has been talking to First Nations chiefs about gas development for several months.

Mi’gmawe’l T’plutaqann Inc., which represents nine Mi’kmaq First Nations in New Brunswick, said its members would participate in the review. 

“We are going into this process to listen and ask questions of the experts and our community members,” they said in a statement issued Wednesday.

But they said a decision cannot happen overnight, and the review would not replace the requirement for consultation if the province moves ahead with gas development.

Exploration for natural gas became controversial more than a decade ago over concerns about the potential health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, which shatters shale rock to extract the gas within.

Protests against gas exploration turned violent in 2013, when police and marchers confronted each other in Rexton, near Elsipogtog First Nation.

The government of the day led by Progressive Conservative premier David Alward supported gas development and made it a centrepiece of its 2014 re-election campaign.

Gallant’s Liberals won that election, in part because of their promise to impose a moratorium.

After taking power four years later, PC premier Blaine Higgs carved out a small exception to the moratorium in 2019 for an existing gas field in Penobsquis.

Higgs looked for ways to restart development more broadly during his six years in office but never pushed forward.