More oil flowing from South White Rose as new well comes online
Company says extensions are part of long-term strategy to extend life of the field
A second well is now in production at the South White Rose extension drill centre in Newfoundland's offshore oil industry, majority owner and field operator Husky Energy announced Tuesday.
The two wells will eventually produce roughly 15,000 barrels per day, and are tied back to the SeaRose FPSO, a floating production, storage and offloading vessel.
The White Rose field is located in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, about 350 kilometres southeast of St. John's.
South White Rose is Husky's second major subsea tieback, following the North Amethyst subsea project in 2010.
Staged 'step-outs' to extend life of field
The tiebacks are part of the company's long-term strategy to extend the life of the main White Rose field through staged "step-outs," Husky CEO Asim Ghosh said in a statement.
The next phase in that strategy is expected to be the development of the West White Rose extension, which is scheduled to begin production in the 2020-plus timeframe.
Husky announced late in 2014 it was delaying sanction of that project for a year, and the company, along with partners Suncor Energy and Crown-owned Nalcor, are continuing to evaluate two options.
One is a gravity concrete structure that will be built at Argentia, reinvigorating the Placentia area and creating about 250 long-term jobs once complete.
The second is a subsea development similar to the North Amethyst satellite field.
Husky confident about project
Husky vice-president Malcolm MacLean told CBC News in June he is confident the West White Rose project will proceed.
"We want to complete the work that's currently underway on looking at cost reductions for both concepts and also we'll be monitoring the oil price throughout the remainder of this year, really, just to see when the economics look more favourable," MacLean said.
According to the provincial government, the White Rose field, including North Amethyst, produced 19.9 million barrels of oil in 2014, which was a slight decline from the previous year.
Total oil production from all three producing fields — including Hibernia and Terra Nova — in 2014 was 78.9 million barrels.
Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose have all experienced considerable increases in recoverable oil estimates since the developments were initially proposed, according to a report prepared by the provincial government.
Corrections
- The headline in an earlier version of this story incorrectly described the extension as West White Rose.Sep 09, 2015 10:13 AM NT