Terra Nova FPSO returns to N.L. waters, but renewed production delayed
Suncor announced this week that production expected to resume this spring
With its overhaul schedule blown out of the water, the Terra Nova FPSO returned to Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday afternoon following an extended stay at a state-owned shipyard in Ferrol, Spain.
The refit began 13 months ago and was originally scheduled to be completed in seven months, at an estimated cost of $500 million US.
But the so-called asset life extension for the aging vessel is taking longer than planned, and now Suncor Energy says production is expected to resume in the spring or early summer, more than six months later than the initial schedule.
Calgary-based Suncor is the operator and majority owner of the Terra Nova, a 300-metre floating production, storage and offloading vessel with the capacity to store nearly one million barrels. It was the second of four producing fields in offshore Newfoundland, with first oil in 2002.
Suncor owns a 48 per cent interest in the project, with Cenovus (34 per cent) and Murphy Oil (10.475 per cent) owning most of the rest.
On Tuesday, Suncor released its fourth-quarter financial results, which said the Terra Nova is "expected to return to operations in Q2 2023." Company leaders also hosted a webcast with analysts on Wednesday, but there was no mention of the Terra Nova, and CBC News was not able to ask questions about the project.
The original plan was for the Terra Nova to resume production in late 2022, but Suncor set a new timeline for early 2023 last fall.
Suncor is not saying why the refit is taking longer than planned, why hundreds of workers from Newfoundland and Labrador were brought to Spain to help with the refit, or what the delay will mean in terms of costs for the company and its partners.
Most Terra Nova employees are represented by Unifor Local 2121. Local president Robert Coady, however, has not been available for interviews.
The freshly painted vessel, which hasn't produced oil since late 2019, was towed into Conception Bay by the offshore supply vessel Maersk Mobiliser following a transatlantic voyage that was hindered by heavy seas.
The Terra Nova life-extension project included hull upgrades and a refresh of the topsides facilities and the complicated swivel unit.
It's not known how long the Terra Nova will be anchored in Conception Bay, what activity is taking place aboard the vessel, or when it will return to the Grand Banks.
The original plan was to carry out the life-extension project in 2020. But that timeline was busted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Terra Nova sat rusting at dockside in Bull Arm, Trinity Bay, with some of the original seven partners losing interest in the project.
But a last-minute ownership shakeup in late 2021, along with roughly $500 million in direct and indirect financial support from the provincial and federal governments, helped salvage the project.
The extension is expected to extend production life by about 10 years, providing an additional 70 million barrels of oil.
The Terra Nova had a total direct employment of roughly 850 people at the end of 2019.
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