Offshore Oil & Gas
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Nova Scotia offers a competitive advantage to companies exploring and developing its offshore oil and gas resources. In recent years, the province has made a commitment to streamlining the regulatory process and the local offshore supplier community is becoming world-renowned for excellence in engineering, fabrication, supply and services.
Currently there is one project operating off the coast of Nova Scotia -- Exxon Mobil’s Sable Offshore Energy Project -- and one under construction, Encana’s Deep Panuke natural gas project.
Deep Panuke Natural Gas Project (Click here for "About Encana")
Encana's Deep Panuke project involves the installation of facilities required to produce and process natural gas from the Deep Panuke field, approximately 250 kilometers southeast of Halifax on the Scotian Shelf.
The project involves production and processing of gas offshore and transport, via subsea pipeline, of market-ready gas to Goldboro, Nova Scotia for further transport to markets on the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. The design capacity for the project is 300 MMcf/d of sales-quality gas.
Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) has been selected to build and operate the Production Field Centre at Deep Panuke. For more information on SBM, visit www.sbmoffshore.com
Encana is progressing with development of Deep Panuke and first production is expected in 2011.
The Sable Offshore Energy Project
The Sable Project has added compression to its offshore platforms and is pumping more than 450 mmcf each day into the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, most of it heading to the northeastern United States. Based on July 2009 numbers, the Sable Project (SOEP) production was averaging around 346 Mmcf/d production.
ExxonMobil installed a compression deck on the Thebaud platform which will push the gas to shore, lower the pressure at all platforms, and mean longer production from the fields. This unit is expected to boost output by 25% and significantly increase overall project deliverability until 2016.
Exploration Activity
BEPCo Canada Co. is preparing to drill a deepwater well about 200 kilometres south of Halifax. BEPCo is partnering with Norstar Asia Ltd., a South Korean investment company. BEPCo is now trying to secure an available rig to begin work on the Mon Cherie well.
In July 2009, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Nova Scotia's offshore regulator, announced BEPCo Canada Company as the successful bidder for two deep water parcels offshore Nova Scotia. BEPCo won rights to explore both parcels located about 160 kilometres southwest of Sable Island, with a work-expenditure bid of $6.3 million each. The combined potential resource in the two parcels is estimated between 3.3 to 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place.
The board continues a new policy that offers companies more flexible, lower entry cost exploration licences that reward early activity and encourage a broader range of companies to explore and invest.
Nova Scotia has a plan to encourage more exploration, with new geoscience, policy, regulation and marketing. For more information please read the Nova Scotia Offshore Renewal Plan.
Offshore Exploration Outlook
For more information on offshore exploration in Nova Scotia, please visit the web site for the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) at www.cnsopb.ns.ca
The CNSOPB is the independent joint agency of the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia responsible for the regulation of petroleum activities in the Nova Scotia Offshore Area, including:
- Health and safety for offshore workers
- Protection of the environment
- Management and conservation of petroleum resources
- Canada-Nova Scotia employment and industrial benefits
- Issuance of offshore licences
- Resource evaluation, data management and distribution
Royalties Update
Royalty forecasts are sensitive to volatile and unpredictable gas prices and to estimates of recoverable hydrocarbons. Royalty forecasts are updated quarterly as new information arises or as circumstances warrant. The Province expects to receive between $1.2 billion and $2 billion in royalties over the life of the Sable project. Royalties from Deep Panuke are estimated between $200 and $400 million over the life of the project.
Exploration Companies
There are CAPP fact sheets on virtually all facets of the offshore oil and gas industry on Canada’s east coast.
If you have additional information relevant to this page please send it to info@energyconsultant.ca noting that it will be reviewed for content prior to any posting, thank you!
We acknowledge Encana and the NS Department of Energy for contributing information to this page.
Their websites are www.encana.com and www.gov.ns.ca/energy/AbsPage.aspx
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