Canada-based Husky Energy is proceeding with its C$2.2bn ($1.6bn) West White Rose project in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
Husky owns about 70% stake in the project. Suncor Energy and Nalcor Energy are the other project partners.
For the project, the company and its partners will use a fixed wellhead platform tied to the SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The platform, which has secured regulatory approval, will allow Husky to maximize resource recovery.
First oil is anticipated in 2022 and the project is estimated to achieve a gross peak production rate of about 75,000 barrels per day (bbls/day) in 2025, as development wells are drilled and brought online.
The project is expected to create about 250 permanent platform jobs once it starts operations.
Husky Energy CEO Rob Peabody said: “We’ve made significant improvements to the project since it was first considered for sanction, including identifying numerous cost savings, achieving a 30% improvement in capital efficiency and increasing the expected peak production rate by 40% over our initial estimate.
“Moving forward with this project is a significant milestone for Husky, while creating jobs, royalties and other benefits for Newfoundland and Labrador.”
The main White Rose field which was discovered in 1984 is situated about 350km east of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on the eastern edge of the Jeanne d’Arc Basin in water depths of about 120m.
Commercial oil production from the White Rose field started on 12 November 2005.
Image: SeaRose FPSO vessel. Photo: Courtesy of Husky Energy Inc.