Troubled Canadian oilfield on track for restart this year

I'm hoping this helps clear the way for the project below to continue after it was halted due to ESG cost increases and Canada's government political posturing favoring ESG. That caused cost to rise with too many delays. Equinor essentially said take this job and shove it... until Trudeau takes so reality bites and gets a couple of doses of reality from the people in the area that desperately wanted the jobs and work opportunities.

And now this...

Bay du Nord on hold for up to 3 years
CBC News · Posted: May 31, 2023 
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bay-du-nord-on-hold-1.6860387

Equinor is shelving the Bay du Nord project off the coast of Newfoundland for up to three years. (Equinor)

Canada's first deep water oil project has been shelved for three years "in the face of challenging market conditions," according to Norwegian oil giant Equinor.

The company sent a press release shortly after noon on Wednesday, in the midst of the Energy N.L. Conference and Exhibition in St. John's.

"We will utilize this postponement to continue to actively mature Bay du Nord towards a successful development," said Tore Løseth, head of Equinor Canada.

A spokesperson said the project has incurred "significant cost increases" in recent months, due in part to a volatile market.

Trond Bokn, senior vice-president of project development, said the project is still important for Equinor.

"We will now look at the project again to see if we can do further optimizations to our concept and strategies," Bokn said.

Bay du Nord is made of up five oil discoveries.

Equinor said it is continuing to assess exploration drilling around the field in 2024.

"Canada is one of Equinor's core areas and through both our partner-operated assets and Bay du Nord, we maintain a very strong business in the country," said Løseth. "We are also encouraged by the strong support in Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada for the project and look forward to the future development of Bay du Nord."

Yay and nay
The head of Energy N.L., Charlene Johnson, addressed the room during the industry conference shortly after Equinor broke the news Wednesday afternoon.

"Clearly this is extremely disappointing news for everyone in this room, and the entire industry and our province," Johnson said, noting the project has already seen numerous delays already.

Johnson said she has spoken with Løseth about her disappointment and concern. Løseth is scheduled to speak at the conference Thursday.

A woman with blonde-brown hair in a yellow blazer standing at a podium with the Energy NL logo behind her.
Charlene Johnson, CEO of Energy N.L., says Equinor's news is 'extremely' disappointing for the entire industry and Newfoundland and Labrador. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
Johnson said Energy N.L. will remain in contact with Equinor over the coming weeks and still feels there are reasons for optimism.

"This is just another bump in the road to what we still feel will be a successful project," she said.

On the other side, Connor Curtis, head of communications with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, told CBC News the delay speaks to the fact that "the economics of this are uncertain."

Sierra Club Canada, along with 118 environmental and citizens' groups across Canada, have long been against the Bay du Nord project for environmental and economic reasons.

In March 2020, they banded together to call on Ottawa to reject the project completely.

"Because we're aiming to meet our climate target, really in the long-term that means that a lot of that oil would not be needed. So developing long-term reserves of fossil fuels like the oil and gas from projects off of Newfoundland and Labrador, including Bay du Nord, really doesn't make much sense," Curtis said.

"I think to an extent we had questions about the viability of these projects for quite a long time," he said. "I'm not really surprised by it, but to a certain extent I hope that this does send a message to the provincial government and to the federal government."

"They need to start rapidly decarbonizing N.L.'s economy. If they're betting the future of the economy on an expansion in oil and gas and doubling production of oil and gas, that's just not going to happen. If that's what they're betting on, that's really misleading a lot of people."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

Excerpt:

Equinor reignites Bay du Nord project with FPSO market inquiry

Expressions of interest released for floating production, storage and offloading vessel and subsea hardware

22 January 2024 - By Iain Esau in London
www.upstreamonline.com/exclusive/equinor-reignites-bay-du-nord-project-with-fpso-market-inquiry/2-1-1586260?abtest=a

Equinor has hit the market with multiple inquiries centred on a highly-anticipated revival of its stalled deepwater Bay du Nord oil project offshore Atlantic Canada.

As part of a project Upstream understands is now called Bay du Nord Reshape, the market inquiries cover a large floating production, storage and offloading vessel and a equally big subsea system.

Bay Du Nord’s partners — which include BP — shocked contractors in May last year when, in a bolt out of the blue, they shelved the development in Newfoundland & Labrador waters “for up to three years” due to costs.

As I recall, this project caught a lot of flack from the greater vocal Canadian ESG crowd, but not the locals. The locals wanted it. Opinions have been shifting toward a more practical ESG approach to reliable energy and away from the loony left's fairy tale timelines that focused on ASAP at any cost. Now that the more vocal and impractical loony left is losing luster,  big oil most likely feels more comfortable 'helping' the world obtain reliable and relatively clean offshore energy.