Suncor restarting production at Terra Nova

Canadian energy company Suncor Energy has restarted production at its Terra Nova FPSO located offshore Canada. 

Suncor Energy operates the Terra Nova field, which is located offshore approximately 350 kilometers southeast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Terra Nova FPSO was shut down for repairs before the storm last month, which affected production on Canada’s several offshore facilities.

While the repairs were completed prior to the storm, Terra Nova remained shut down during the storm and did not start until inspections were complete.

Canada’s offshore regulator, C-NLOPB, said in an update on Monday that production startup of the Terra Nova FPSO started on Sunday, December 2 with a slow and controlled production restart process.

Prior to start up, inspections were completed, Suncor Energy received concurrence from the Certifying Authority and the C-NLOPB and it was deemed safe to resume operations.

The Terra Nova FPSO and its subsea infrastructure have undergone significant integrity assurance work prior to restart activities.

Extensive pressure testing and remotely operated vehicle inspections of the subsea flowlines have also been completed. The C-NLOPB is continuing to monitor Suncor’s restart activities.

The Terra Nova field is comprised of a combination of producing wells, as well as water injection and gas injection wells, and delivers production from the Graben, East Flank and Far East blocks. Production from the field began in 2002, through the use of an FPSO vessel.

Due to the storm, several other offshore facilities had been shut down, including ExxonMobil’s Hebron. The platform resumed production on November 23 but a couple of weeks later it came under the spotlight again following a high potential near miss incident.

In related news, Husky-operated SeaRose FPSO spilled about 250 cubic meters (250,000 liters) of oil into the environment as a result of severe weather conditions off Canada. The FPSO remains shut-in.

The regulator said on Monday that shutdown maintenance activities are ongoing at the SeaRose FPSO, but all drilling and production operations remain suspended. The C-NLOPB continues its investigation into the incident.

Offshore Energy Today Staff