Norway’s Equinor spuds exploration well offshore Canada

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has started its drilling campaign offshore Canada, using a semi-submersible drilling rig currently managed by Seadrill. Following the completion of this campaign, the rig’s management will be transferred to Odfjell Drilling.

The success of this drilling campaign would contribute to resources at Equinor’s high-value and controversial new offshore oil development, the Bay du Nord.

Equinor is using the West Hercules drilling rig for these operations. In preparation for this campaign, the rig reached Newfoundland about a month ago to start its contract with Equinor this month.

In an update on Tuesday, Seadrill said that the West Hercules had spud the first of two exploration wells in the Flemish Pass Basin offshore Canada. It is estimated to be on contract for the next 157 days. According to Seadrill’s latest fleet status report, the contract is expected to end in October 2022.

Following Seadrill’s announcement, Offshore Energy has also reached out to Equinor, seeking further details about the wells. A spokesperson for Equinor confirmed operations had started at the two-well exploration drilling program in the Flemish Pass Basin, near-field to the proposed Bay du Nord development project, adding that the campaign is expected to be completed in fall 2022.

Earlier this year, Equinor told Offshore Energy it would drill the Cambriol Central prospect and complete the Sitka prospect as part of this campaign in the Flemish Pass. A top hole was drilled at the Sitka prospect as part of the 2020 exploration drilling programme.

In addition to the rig, Equinor has also previously secured support vessels, which will be provided by Canada’s Atlantic Towing. Three of its AHTS vessels – Atlantic Kestrel, the Atlantic Merlin, and the Atlantic Kingfisher – have been awarded term charters with Equinor.

As to the issue of the marketing and management services for the rig, these will be transferred from Seadrill to Odfjell Drilling following the completion of the Canadian campaign. It is worth noting that this will be the fourth rig that Odfjell will be taking over from Seadrill since December 2021.

Equinor’s latest exploration efforts in waters off Canada are tied to its operated Bay du Nord project development. Following several delays and despite pressure from the environmental groups, the Canadian government has recently approved the $12 billion project. However, this was not the end of the line for those who objected to the project’s development. The plot thickened further last week with activists staging protests against it in Canada and Norway.

As part of the protests, Gretchen Fitzgerald, the National Programs Director for Sierra Club Canada Foundation, was in Norway and spoke directly to Equinor shareholders and leadership about Canadians’ concerns with the Bay du Nord project, calling for its cancellation and investments into wind and solar projects. Fitzgerald delivered her speech during Equinor’s Annual General Meeting on 11 May 2022 in Stavanger.

In addition, Canadian environmental groups launched a lawsuit to overturn the federal government’s approval of Bay du Nord. Ecojustice, on behalf of Équiterre and Sierra Club Canada Foundation, filed the lawsuit in the Federal Court, saying the approval clashes with Canada’s international obligations and calling for a reduction in global emissions as the reality of the climate emergency becomes more distressing with every severe weather event.

On the other hand, Equinor believes that this can be an important project with “high-value creation, a low carbon footprint and strong economic value for the region.”

Equinor is now working to mature the project and a final investment decision is expected in the next couple of years while the first oil could be achieved as early as late 2028.