Equinor believes it has found a “path forward” to develop the Bay du Nord offshore oil megaproject.
The Norwegian company’s Canadian boss relayed the news at the Energy NL conference in St. John’s this morning.
It was two years ago that Equinor, during the same conference, stunned delegates with word that Bay Du Nord had stalled to due to cost increases.
So it should come as no surprise that this new path forward is all about finding a cheaper, yet faster way to first oil by 2031.
That starts with the decision to now lease, instead of build the FPSO (floating production storage and offloading), and initial tie back to just two of the five Flemish Pass fields in a phased approach.
Illustration of the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit and tiebacks to oilfields. (Equinor)
The vessel owner/operator will be chosen this summer, complementing subsea contractors overseeing the lines to and from the oilfield to the ship.
The results of that, and next steps, will be spelled out during supplier-development sessions here in the fall, followed by a decision on whether to proceed by the end of the year.
The move to lease, not construct, an FPSO will be a tough one for local labour, but it is common industry practice in the name of efficiency.
And that, says Equinor’s Tore Løseth, is what will get the $16-billion project sanctioned, adding they’re searching everywhere to save.
“We have turned almost every stone we can and we have a few stones to turn left.”
