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Posts Tagged ‘Hebron’

Offshore Newfoundland, a particularly hostile operating environment (“North Sea plus icebergs“), continues to be the only producing area in the North American Atlantic, a distinction that is unlikely to change for at least the next decade.

Production is holding firm and there was a nice bounce in December when 7.5 million barrels were produced (242,000 bopd ave.). December’s production was the highest since May 2022 and and was a respectable 57% of the May 2007 peak.

Most impressively, according to CNLOPB data, no fatalities or significant injuries occurred over the past 3 years.

The pioneering Hibernia platform (pictured above), where Newfoundland offshore production began in Nov. 1997, keeps chugging along at 60 to 80,000 bopd. The Hibernia field has produced more than double the original resource estimate of 520 million barrels. Very impressive!

Hebron, the current top producer, continues to produce 100,000+ bopd

The Terra Nova field contributed ~40,000 bopd in Dec., the highest output since production resumed in late 2023 after extensive downtime to refurbish the FPSO.

Production remained offline at the White Rose project, which was shutdown at the end of 2023 for refurbishment of the SeaRose FPSO. Production is expected to resume during the first quarter of this year.

Newfoundland production data:

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Hebron gravity based structure

While checking for updates on the important Orphan Basin well, I looked at Newfoundland production data and found it surprisingly encouraging:

  • The pioneering Hibernia field has produced more than double the original resource estimate of 520 million barrels, and is still chugging along at about 60,000 bopd.
  • Hebron, the current top producer, is holding strong at 100,000+ bopd.
  • White Rose, which was in danger of being abandoned, is poised for a renaissance with the installation of the West White Rose concrete gravity structure.
  • Terra Nova is once again producing at near 2019 levels after a four year hiatus. The Terra Nova story has many important technical, management, regulatory, safety, and logistical elements, and presents good case study opportunities for Newfoundland academics (Memorial University?).

With prospects for production at Bay du Nord brightening and interesting targets like the Orphan basin being explored, pessimistic forecasts for Newfoundland’s resilient offshore sector may be a bit premature.

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The CNLOPB has announced contingent resources of 340 million bbls for the Cambriol discovery which would be co-developed with 2 nearby discoveries as part of Equinor’s Bay du Nord project. Per CNLOPB estimates, this brings the Bay du Nord resource total to 1.132 billion bbls. Equinor has announced that 2 exploratory wells will be spudded this summer. Positive results would further strengthen the case for Bay du Nord development.

contingent resources per CNLOPB (million bbls)
Bay du Nord407
Cappahayden385
Cambriol340
project area total1132
“Contingent Resources” are volumes of hydrocarbons, expressed at 50% probability, assessed to be technically recoverable that have not been delineated and have unknown economic viability.

Meanwhile, Terra Nova production is ramping up after a long hiatus for FPSO refurbishment, remarkable Hibernia has produced more than double the original resource estimate of 520 million bbls and is still producing about 60,000-70,000 bopd, and Hebron is impressively producing about 120,000 bopd on average.

There is indeed reason for optimism about North America’s only Atlantic production in what is arguably the continent’s (world’s?) most challenging operating environment.

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