Equinor enters three new licences offshore Newfoundland
Norway’s Equinor and its partners were the successful bidders for new exploration parcels in the prolific Jeanne d’Arc basin, offshore Newfoundland.
Equinor said on the 7th November it will operate two exploration parcels, NL18-CFB01-14 (Equinor Canada 70%, Husky Energy 30%) and NL18-CFB01-15 (Equinor Canada 60%, Suncor Energy 40%), totalling 412,644 hectares (4,126 square kilometres).
Equinor will also participate in the Suncor Energy-operated parcel NL18-CFB02-01, totalling 142,500 hectares (1,425 square kilometres), (Suncor Energy 40%, Equinor Canada 30%, Husky Energy 30%).
“We are pleased to have secured significant acreage and new exploration opportunities offshore Canada. The successful bids aligns with Equinor’s strategy of developing our position in prolific basins,” said Tim Dodson, Equinor’s executive vice president for exploration.
“These exploration investments provide Equinor an important opportunity to advance our position in a region where we have a well-established exploration portfolio while we continue to evaluate and mature our existing exploration assets in the Flemish Pass Basin,” Mr Dodson said.
Equinor has been active in Canada since 1996, and operates the 2013 Bay du Nord discovery, located in the Flemish Pass Basin.
Equinor also holds an extensive exploration and partner-operated development position offshore Newfoundland, with partnership interests in the producing Hibernia, Terra Nova and Hebron fields.
In addition to Equinor and its partners, BHP Billiton was the successful bidder of two parcels, getting a 100% interest in each. BHP’s two exploration licenses for blocks 8 and 12 are located in the offshore Orphan Basin in Eastern Canada.
BHP’s aggregate bid amount of US$625 million covers the drilling and seismic work required by the exploration work programmes under the licence agreements over the six year term.
BHP’s minimum commitment under the licence agreements is for $157 million.
Source: Offshore Energy Today