Bay du Nord: Equinor will likely build its vessel overseas
Equinor has expressed a preference for having the oil extraction and storage vessel for the Bay du Nord project built outside of Newfoundland, but it points out that the underwater works and the potential revenues are revised to the increase following the discovery of other recoverable quantities of oil.
Norwegian oil company Equinor plans to have the production and storage vessel built outside of Newfoundland of oil from the Bay du Nord field if it decides to carry out this project.
Equinor's new representative in Canada, Tore Løseth, whose office is in Saint John, says his priority is to convince the company's executives to go ahead with the project.
He explains that he cannot guarantee that the project will be carried out because there are business challenges to overcome.
You might find this a bit odd because there's a lot of recoverable oil in the ground and we're profitable these days, but it's is the truth, asserts Mr. Løseth.
Tore Løseth explains that the Bay du Nord project has changed a lot since the framework agreement reached with the provincial government in 2018. More recoverable oil has been discovered. Equinor's estimate went from 300 million to 500 million barrels of recoverable oil.
The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board sees a potential of one billion barrels.
The Bay du Nord project as it stands could have at least eight drilling centers connected to the ship by subsea pipelines. Production would be 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Consequently, Equinor continually revises upwards the amount of infrastructure to be built. This project could become the largest in the history of the company carried out under the sea. It could have at least eight drilling centers connected to the ship by underwater pipes. The underwater surface area is said to be approximately the size of the Avalon Peninsula.
Equinor is also working on other projects and only one of them considered to be the best will be given the green light, according to Mr. Løseth.
One of the ways for the Bay du Nord project to qualify would be to have the entire vessel built elsewhere at a lower cost, for example in Asia.
Tore Løseth prefers to speak in the case of Newfoundland of the economic benefits of underwater work and oil extraction.
These are long-term jobs. We are talking about 10 years of continuous work in the yards. And during this period we will also have activities at sea and the drilling of wells, he said.
Tore Løseth is Senior Vice President of Norwegian oil company Equinor in Canada.< /p>
Equinor is continuing negotiations with the provincial government to reach a project benefits agreement.
In the meantime, the organization trade union Trades NL is carrying out an awareness campaign in the hope of convincing Equinor to have at least parts of the ship built in Newfoundland. But Tore Løseth says the project's estimated costs are only going up.
Equinor and partner BP Canada expect to make a decision next year. If they decide to proceed with the project, production could begin later this decade at a maximum rate of 200,000 barrels per day.
Based on a report by < /em>Terry Roberts, from CBC
