White Rose Oil and Gas Field, Jeanne d’Arc Basin, Canada

OIL AND GAS RESERVOIR

The area consists of several oil and gas pools in the Avalon formation sandstones, which were deposited during the early Cretaceous along a north-south trending shoreline roughly paralleling the eastern margin of the Jeanne d’Arc Basin. The White Rose oilfield development will involve recovering an estimated 36 million cubic metres (230 million barrels) of recoverable oil from an area of approximately 40km².

The first three wells - N-22, J-49 and L-61 - were drilled between 1984 and 1986. White Rose E-09 well was drilled in 1987-1988 into the South Avalon oil pool and encountered over 90m of net oil pay. In 1999 and 2000, three additional delineation wells were drilled into the South Avalon, White Rose L-08, A-17 and H-20. A fourth well, N-30, was also drilled in 1999 into the North Avalon pool, downdip from the N-22 well.

WHITE ROSE FIELD DEVELOPMENT

The field will be developed from three or four drill centres on the seafloor, with production and water and gas injection wells located at each centre. These drill centres will be located in excavated glory holes that lie below the seabed to protect the wells from iceberg scour.

Current plans envisage up to 10 to 14 production wells. The production from the combined wells is estimated between 12,000m³/day to 18,000m³/day (75,000b/d and 110,000b/d). An additional eight to eleven gas and water injection wells will be drilled for resource conservation and to maintain reservoir pressure. The wells will be drilled in phases over a four to six-year period. Up to four to six production wells, one to three water injection wells and one gas injection well will be required for first oil production.

FPSO FACILITY

The drill centres will be connected to a ship-shaped floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility with flexible flowlines and risers. The FPSO’s turret will be designed to allow the facility to disconnect from the subsea drill centres and move in the event of an emergency.

This FPSO will be able to store between 111,000m³ and 135,000m³ (700,000 and 850,000 barrels) of oil (approximately eight to ten days of oil production) and will contain topside processing units, accommodation and a turret.

MAIN CONTRACTORS

In April 2002 Husky awarded Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea the contract to build the FPSO hull. The design is derived from the proven purpose-built Grand Banks shuttle tanker design and features an ice-strengthened double hull. It will have dual conventional propulsion systems and two high efficiency rudders.

SBM IMODCO was given the contract for the turret and mooring system. The contract scope includes the engineering, procurement, and construction of a disconnectable turret. The mooring system connects the turret to the seabed and allows the FPSO to weathervane around the turret while connected.

The contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of topsides has been awarded to Aker Maritime Kiewit Contractors (AMKC), a joint venture of Peter Kiewit Sons Co. Ltd. and Aker Oil and Gas Technology Ltd. The topsides are designed to produce oil at a quality suitable for shipment by shuttle tankers to market.

Husky time chartered two newbuild shuttle tankers from Knutsen OAS to transport oil from the White Rose offshore project. Delivery of the Suezmax-size vessels, each with a one million-barrel capacity, is planned for the second quarter of 2005. The vessels will be constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.