The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has approved the Development Plan Amendment for the ExxonMobil-operated Hebron field offshore eastern Canada.
The green light will enable ExxonMobil and its partners to develop sands within the Jeanne d’Arc formation that were not covered in the original Hebron Development Plan.
This summer, ExxonMobil wrote to the regulator proposing to add new assets to the original plan due to findings from drilling operations. According to the supermajor, expanding will “enable optimization of the development and provide the maximum chance of economic success while reducing waste.”
According to the C-NLOPB, the additional development activities will not require changes to the installation, equipment deployment in the field, operations, shipping activities, or the extent of safety zones, and no new excavated drill centers or drilling installations will be required.
Since the start of production in 2017, ExxonMobil has implemented new technology and several operational changes to identify, mitigate, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the Hebron field.
The Hebron field is located offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in the Jeanne d'Arc basin 340 km southeast of St. John’s. The field was first discovered in 1980.
Hebron’s host is a gravity-based structure (GBS) comprising a reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand sea ice, icebergs, and meteorological and oceanographic conditions. The facility is designed to store approximately 1.2 million bbl of crude oil.
During review of ExxonMobil’s latest application, C-NLOPB staff completed a reassessment of the most likely recoverable oil and contingent gas estimates for the formation. The proven and probable (2P) estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) now stands at 165 million BOE. An estimate in 2012 believed around 132 million BOE could be recoverable from the formation.
C-NLOPB staff also reassessed the EUR and contingent gas estimates for Pool 1 and the Hibernia formation for the Hebron field, based on learnings from drilling in the Hibernia formation and production from Pool 1. The 2P EUR for Pool 1 increased to 596 million bbl from the 2012 estimate of 560 million bbl. The estimate for the Hibernia formation grew to almost 59 million bbl from 15 million in 2012.
