Save the date: Cenovus Energy announces West White Rose structure marriage next month | CBC News
Alberta-based Cenovus Energy has set a date for one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s highest profile weddings.
The West White Rose project’s concrete gravity structure (CGS) was floated out to Placentia Bay in May, and next month it will be married to the topside structure that arrived in Bull Arm a week ago.
The 23,000-tonne topside had a two-week, 3,500-nautical-mile journey from Ingleside, Texas where it was built.
“What you see behind me is this significant piece of the West White Rose project,” Cenovus projects vice-president Derek Pearcey told reporters at the Bull Arm fabrication site on Thursday.
The topside includes a drilling platform, boom flare, living quarters for 144 people and “all the utilities you need,” said Pearcey.
Some components were fabricated in Marystown.
The plan is to send the topside 350 kilometers offshore within the next month to be mated with the CGS.
Over the next couple of weeks, Pearcey said the structure will go through inspections and preparations before it is ready to go.
The topside will have to be transferred from its current vessel to the Pioneering Spirit, “the largest heavy lift vessel in the world” according to Pearcey.
Cenovus is aiming for first oil by spring 2026, with an expected production of 80,000 barrels of oil per day by 2028.
“It’s an exciting time for the entire project team who’s been working on this for many years,” said Pearcey. “Here is the last piece that we need to get offshore.”
‘Lowest carbon oil’
Pearcey said the next goal is to have the rig drilling before the end of the year. He said it’s designed to last 25 years, and the company is planning to have it in production until 2038.
“We’re always looking for more value opportunities to go beyond that,” said Pearcey.
Meanwhile, Canada has plans to reduce its emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net-zero by 2050. That includes reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector by 31 per cent.
Cenovus has been a staunch opponent of federal government emissions caps, and met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on June 1, alongside other energy sector companies, to discuss partnerships.
Despite these caps, Pearcey said there will be a global need for energy for a number of years, and that West White Rose will be recovering oil in a way that is “environmentally responsible.”
“So if we’re going to supply oil, we should be doing it with this type of facility offshore. Here we make some of the lowest carbon oil there is,” he said.
Scientists also predict that climate change will bring more storms to Canada’s east.
But, Pearcey said the structure is designed to withstand all environmental challenges, including heavy winds, waves and icebergs.
“We still have a lot of work to do offshore, a lot of big marine activities, but we’ve been planning for that for years,” he said. “So, it’s a really exciting year for us.”
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