Production might start in 2025 from the deepwater Bay du Nord oil discovery in the Flemish Pass basin 500 km offshore Newfoundland and Labrador under a framework agreement announced July 26 by the provincial government.
Premier Dwight Ball said project sanction by Equinor, the operator, and Husky Energy Inc. is expected in 2020.
Ball didn’t disclose details of the agreement or operational plans.
Bay du Nord, in 1,170 m of water, holds reserves of 300 million bbl of 34° gravity oil, including volumes from Equinor’s nearby Bay de Verde and Baccalieu discoveries, both made in 2016 (OGJ Online, July 10, 2017).
Equinor discovered Bay du Nord in 2013 after making Mizzen and Harpoon discoveries. All the discoveries are within 10-20 km of one another.
The Flemish Pass basin discoveries are northeast of producing Hibernia, Hebron, Terra Nova, and White Rose oil fields in shallower water of the Jeanne d’Arc basin.
