There appears to be little interest from the industry in oil and gas exploration in the waters off the islands, according to current and former industry spokesmen.
Ian Smyth, the president of the Canadian Petroleum Association from 1978 to 1992 says major energy companies are frightened off by uncertainty over native land claims, environmental issues and questions about federal-provincial regulations.
"You go and find me one oil company whose name is recognizable to an informed Canadian, who has expressed interest in offshore oil drilling (on the west coast), and I will buy you lunch in Paris," Mr. Smyth recently told the Vancouver Sun.
Mr. Smyth's comments echoed those of BC Energy Minister Richard Neufeld, who said last week that there are three issues the industry wants addressed before entering into exploring Hecate Strait.
"They want a regulatory system, they want issues between the federal and provincial governments settled, and they want issues settled with the First Nations," he said, adding that the industry "is not interested in getting involved I the middle of a fight".
Further evidence of the lack of interest comes from a spokesman for the Canadian Association of petroleum Producers, David Luff. He says major Canadian companies don't see BC as a priority.
"It really comes down to the individual companies, and our companies are looking for a return on capital that is already deployed."
"And so when we look at the west coast compared to Atlantic Canada and northern Canada, the west coast would be a low priority compared to those two areas because our members already have capital deployed in those other jurisdictions."
Mr. Luff, a vice-president of the association, also said that the BC governments 2010 target is "ambitious" because of uncertainties regarding land claims, the environment and the federal-provincial regulatory regime.