Suncor no longer giving timeline for Terra Nova FPSO's return to production

The majority owner and operator of the Terra Nova field in Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore is no longer providing a schedule for when the vessel used to produce oil in the field will return to service.

Suncorspokesperson Leithan Sladewould only saythe company is "evaluating any impacts to the schedule" when pressed about a return to production for the Terra Nova FPSO during a telephone interview from the company's Calgary offices on Tuesday.

It's another sign that the plan for the so-called asset life extension for the Terra Novaa project largely financed by public money and a break on future royalties has gone badly off course.

The Terra Nova left Canadian waters in late December 2021 for what was supposed to be a seven-month overhaul at a shipyard in Spain, and a return to production on the Grant Banks 350 kilometres southeast of St. John's in late 2022.

But the Spanish rendezvousdragged on for 13 months, with large numbers of workers from Newfoundland and Labrador travelling to Spain to help with the top-to-bottom overhaul, and Suncor changing the return-to-operations date tothe first quarter of 2023.

The Terra Nova made the cross-Atlantic journey this past winter, and was towed into Conception Bay in mid-February, with plans to complete the final maintenance and commissioning.

In an interview, a senior vice-president acknowledged there were schedule and budget setbacks, and that a restart was now delayed until sometime between April and June.

Last week, meanwhile, the Terra Nova was towed into Trinity Bay and docked at the Bull Arm fabrication site, after nearly two months in Conception Bay.

"Docking at quayside will allow for more efficient movement of people and also materials as well as reducing the chance of poor weather impacting our work as we continue some of that maintenance and commissioning activities," Slade said when asked about the move to Bull Arm.

When asked if the ongoing delays are a sign that the work carried out in Spain was substandard, Slade would only say:"We're just doing everything necessary to make sure that when the vessel does go back into the field and into production, we're confident in its ability to operate safely and reliably."

And why is Suncor no longer giving a timetable for a resumption of oil production? Slade repeated several times that "we're still evaluating any impacts to the schedule."

When asked if there's mounting frustration over the delays, Slade said "we look forward" to having the Terra Nova back in production.

The Terra Nova is one of four mature oil fields in provincial offshore industry, along with Hibernia, White Rose and Hebron.

The FPSO has not produced oil since late 2019, when audits by the project's insurer and the offshore regular uncovered a long list of safety concerns.

The chaos that accompanied the global pandemic nearly dealt a death blow to the Terra Nova project, but an 11th hour ownership shakeup,a $200 million injection of government money, and royalty relief estimated at some $300 million, saved the project.

The life extension project, meanwhile, will allow for another 10 years of production, with an estimated 80 million barrels of oil remaining in the field.

According to the offshore petroleum board, there were 800 jobs linked to the Terra Nova project at the end of 2021.

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