The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB) has awarded a consortium between BP PLC and Equinor ASA a pre-production license for an offshore discovery.
The provincial oil regulator concurrently revealed that the related discovery effectively, Cambriol G-92, had been assessed to carry 340 million barrels in contingent oil assets, which suggests petroleum volumes expressed at a 50 % chance and deemed technically extractible by the CNLOPB’s definition.
“This [the contingent resource estimate] contains oil in fields/swimming pools that aren’t accepted for improvement”, the CNLOPB mentioned in a latest press launch.
The brand new award, Vital Discovery License (SDL) 1060, spans a complete of 14,900 hectares throughout 4 sections, in response to the official license doc posted by the CNLOPB. Equinor subsidiary Equinor Canada Ltd. is almost all curiosity holder at 60 % whereas BP subsidiary BP Canada Vitality Group ULC holds the remaining 40 %.
Cambriol G-92 was drilled beneath Exploration License (EL) 1156, issued to the 2 European power majors January 2019 as a consolidation of sure parts of ELs 1125 and 1126. The consolidation had been reached beneath 2018 agreements involving Chevron Corp. however america firm give up ELs 1125 and 1126 later in 2018, the CNLOPB recalled within the license doc for SDL 1060.
An organization secures an SDL after regulatory affirmation of a “important discovery” beneath an EL. In contrast to an EL, an SDL doesn’t expire, permitting the curiosity proprietor to protect rights to an space till the issuance of a manufacturing license (PL). The proprietor is entitled to a PL upon regulatory affirmation of a industrial discovery, in response to the CNLOPB.
In October 2020 Equinor introduced the Cambriol discovery, together with the Cappahayden discovery, each within the Flemish Move basin. The 2 wells sit about 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) east of the provincial capital Saint John’s, the Norwegian majority-state-owned firm mentioned in a information launch on the time. Cambriol G-92 had a water depth of 600 meters (1,968.5 ft) whereas Cappahayden Ok-67 had a water depth of round 1,000 meters (3,280.8 ft) in response to the report.
Cappahayden Ok-67 is the larger of the 2 with 385 barrels of recoverable oil in response to the CNLOPB.
Each discoveries could possibly be tied in with the adjoining Bay du Nord subject, Equinor says on its web site, although the Bay du Nord challenge was postponed Might 2023 for as much as three years with Equinor citing “altering market circumstances”. The sphere, in the identical basin because the Cappahayden and Cambriol discoveries, yielded a number of discoveries for Equinor between 2013 and 2020.
“Equinor will develop the Bay du Nord subject utilizing a floating manufacturing unit for storage and offshore offloading, which is also a suited resolution for tie-back of adjoining discoveries and future prospects”, Equinor states within the on-line challenge description.
Bay du Nord had been anticipated to start out manufacturing 2025. It’s estimated to carry 407 million barrels of oil in response to the CNLOPB, making it the largest asset by way of identified oil reserves offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. Cappahayden and Cambriol spherical up the highest three.
Exxon Mobil Corp’s Hebron subject, 340 kilometers (211.27 miles) southeast of St. John, has the fourth highest oil reserves estimate with 276 million barrels.
Final December the CNLOPB mentioned the provincial and federal governments cleared a brand new improvement plan for Hebron, permitting its US operator to use sands that weren’t a part of the unique plan.
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