Landmark deal advances offshore energy development and unlocks significant opportunities in Canada’s aim to become global energy superpower.
Photo caption: Illustration of the Bay du Nord field, including potential future subsea tie-backs. Image courtesy of Equinor.
The development of critical minerals and natural resources is a cornerstone of the Government of Canada’s ambitious infrastructure plans, with an aim at becoming a global energy superpower and, by proxy, driving economic growth here at home and cementing the country’s energy security for both the short- and long-term. To boost these efforts, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador recently announced an agreement with Norwegian energy company, Equinor, to advance the Bay du Nord offshore oil development project.
Construction demand
It’s a significant announcement that serves to underscore the federal governments energy strategy, and a project that is set to bear a sizeable impact on the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore oil and gas industry. It’s an industry that’s currently represented by nearly 20,000 jobs, contributes close to 20 per cent to the Newfoundland Labrador GDP and is responsible for a whopping 55 per cent of the province’s total exports. However, as Newfoundland and Labrador Premier, Tony Wakeham, points out, the development of the project will be multi-year and will result in a significant increase in construction demand.
“This project makes Newfoundlanders and Labradorians the primary beneficiaries of our own resources,” he says. “It guarantees new trade jobs for the entire duration of the projects, along with billions of dollars in new revenue for services here at home. And with the new floating dry dock, we are breaking the boom-bust cycle of previous mega-projects and creating long-term and lasting building trades jobs in a brand-new maintenance and repair sector.”
Relying on skilled trades
Located 500 kilometres east of St. John’s in the Flemish Basin, Bay du Nord represents a $14 million investment in the region and is intended to connect multiple subsea drill centres back to a single floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Once in full operation, which is expected sometime in 2031, capacity will be in excess of 160,000 bbl/d ensuring the delivery of affordable energy to Canadians. While in phased development, however, the project is expected to rely on a number of different fields of expertise. And, according to Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries, it will also look to the skilled trades of the region to realize this national opportunity.
“Bay du Nord is exactly the kind of project our new government is proud to support as we build Canada stronger. It will be one of the cleanest oil projects in the world, it will mean thousands of good jobs for the skilled workers of Newfoundland and Labrador who will get the job done, and it is a major economic opportunity for Canada.”