ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the safety problems that emerged from investigation into the Ocean Ranger disaster off the coast of Newfoundland in 1982 and assesses whether subsequent government action established an adequate regulatory framework for safety in the offshore oil industry. Oil was discovered off the coast of Newfoundland during seismic tests in 1965, which showed large oil deposits in the Grand Banks, an area southeast of the province. Both the federal and Newfoundland provincial governments referred the dispute to the Supreme Court of Canada, who ruled in 1984 that subsea resources off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador belonged to the government of Canada. The politics, power, and economic growth through offshore oil development in Newfoundland largely reflect the plight of a peripheral economy with more than double the national level of unemployment since confederation in 1949. Given the Ocean Ranger disaster in 1982 and its aftermath, it is instructive to ask how far safety practices offshore were improved.
