ExxonMobil Corp. let a $1.5 billion engineering, procurement, and construction contract to Kvaerner ASA for the Hebron heavy-oil project off Canada’s eastern coast, Kvaerner said. The contract total includes some work already completed.
In January, ExxonMobil said it will develop the Hebron oil field offshore Newfoundland and Labrador using a gravity-based structure that will recover more than 700 million bbl of oil, an increase over earlier estimates (OGJ Online, Jan. 4, 2013).
Hebron lies in 300 ft of water in the Jeanne d'Arc basin more than 200 miles southeast of the capital of St. John’s and 19 miles southeast of ExxonMobil’s Hibernia project. The field will be developed using a stand-alone gravity-based structure consisting of reinforced concrete designed to withstand sea ice, icebergs, and meteorological and oceanographic conditions.
The base will be designed to store 1.2 million bbl of crude oil and will support an integrated topsides deck that includes a living quarters and drilling and production facilities. The platform is being designed to produce 150,000 b/d of oil. Oil production is expected to begin by yearend 2017.
Kvaerner was spun off from Aker Solutions ASA in 2011.
