BP is within weeks of spudding a highly anticipated wildcat on a huge prospect offshore eastern Canada, with its chosen drillship having just started its voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean.

Results from the well on the multibillion-barrel Ephesus prospect offshore Newfoundland & Labrador will be keenly awaited and will very likely influence the take up of exploration acreage in bid rounds launched by the province earlier this week.

If the probe is successful, it could trigger a flurry of interest in the Orphan basin parcels on offer, but a flop could have the opposite effect.