China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is postponing this year’s planned drilling campaign offshore Canada’s east coast because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese state-held oil firm told CBC News on Tuesday. “We have concluded that given that we are in the early stages of our exploration program, we cannot safely execute offshore in Atlantic Canada in the near term due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company said in a statement to the outlet. CNOOC was planning to begin this year an exploration drilling campaign in the Flemish Pass Basin offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, but it will be delaying the drilling because of the pandemic, said the Chinese firm, which didn’t cite the oil price crash as a reason for the delay. Earlier this month, Husky Energy and Norway’s Equinor deferred their joint Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, citing the collapse in oil prices. “Equinor and […]