Newfoundland and Labrador expecting windfall from soaring oil prices

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham delivers a state of the province speech in St. John’s, N.L., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie

ST. JOHN’S — Newfoundland and Labrador’s government is expecting a boost to the province’s revenues this year after the war in Iran sent oil prices skyrocketing across the globe.

Finance Minister Craig Pardy has previously said he anticipated additional revenues of more than $500 million, as oil prices soared. On Wednesday, the minister said that figure is even higher, though he said it was too soon to provide specific details.

However, Pardy said he agreed with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham, who promised during a state-of-the-province speech that his government would not centre its financial planning around windfalls from wars.

“Those same elevated oil prices are hitting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at the pump around their home heating bills,” Wakeham said to a crowd of more than 100 at a St. John’s Board of Trade event. “We cannot, and should not, and will not be counting on artificially high oil prices in perpetuity.”

Wakeham’s address marked one year since his Progressive Conservative Party ended 10 years of Liberal governments in Canada’s easternmost province. He promised a plan to expand the province’s offshore oil and gas industry and use its proceeds to build “something that lasts.”

He spoke of the opportunity in the oil and gas industry, and of promised returns from a sweeping new energy agreement with Quebec to develop wind and hydroelectric projects along the Churchill River in Labrador. He also took several opportunities to rail against the previous Liberal government.

Though the province expects more revenue from oil prices, it is also facing towering financial burdens. Pardy’s most recent budget forecast a net debt of nearly $21 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in March. By contrast, the province’s entire budget for the year is roughly $11.5 billion.

The budget also estimated an end-of-year deficit of about $688.5 million.

0135 SASPO-2988_Self serve_2026_YouTube

0121 Ministry of Energy and Resources April 2026

0134 SASPO-2956_ Safety 2026

0133 LC Trucking hiring Class 1A Payden

0132 UMWA 2026

0129 Turnbull drivers operators

0128 OSY Rentals updated

0126 Steel_Reef_Promo_

0118 IBEW 30 sec

0114 Prospera Bold Vision

0113 Miller Epic Cinematic Hollywood trailer

0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended

0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p

0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it

0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser

0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech

0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask

0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly

0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar

0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music

0022 Grimes winter hiring

0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer

0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs

0002 gilliss casing services

9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX

9001

Pardy promised to deliver a debt management plan for the province later in the fall, though again, he was hesitant to reveal many details.

“We want to arrest our borrowing, and then we certainly want to make sure that we minimize it, and then get that net debt paid off,” he said after Wakeham’s speech. That will be accomplished by generating more revenue and controlling expenses, he said.

In the meantime, Wakeham said his government is still considering buying a piece of Equinor’s proposed Bay du Nord offshore oil project, which would be the first deepwater oil development in the country.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government holds shares in three of four oil projects currently operating off the east coast of St. John’s.

Bay du Nord would be the fifth, if Equinor decides to proceed. The Norwegian energy company is expected to make that call early next year.

Officials said earlier this year that the Newfoundland and Labrador government was considering buying up to 10 per cent of Bay du Nord. In that case, the provincial government would make an estimated $6.4 billion from the development through royalties, taxes and the equity stake.

Wakeham said he was waiting for recommendations from his government’s Department of Energy Mines and OilCo, the province’s oil and gas corporation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2026.

The Canadian Press