The ExxonMobil-operated Hebron oil field hit a milestone in late July when the gravity based structure (GBS) was towed from the dry dock to the project’s Bull Arm construction site. The 180,000-tonne structure arrived 10 hours after tow-out operations began, and operations were performed without injury.
The Hebron field will be developed around the GBS, which is a reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand the region’s harsh climate and environmental conditions. Capable of storing about 1.2MMbo, the GBS structure will also support drilling and production facilities, along with a topsides living quarter, on which fabrication began on 11 March 2013 at Canada's Metal World fabrication facility in Torbay.
Construction on the GBS began in the dry dock on October 2012. Slip forming was used to build the GBS up to 27.5m, and in June the dry dock was flooded to prepare for tow-out. Construction activities will continue on-site, after which the topsides will be floated over and installed to complete the platform’s construction.
The Bull Arm construction site is the project’s primary construction site. Topside integration will also be performed there.
Hebron is located offshore Newfoundland and Labraror in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, 350km southeast of St. John’s. The field sits in 150m of water. It is expected to contain 700MMbbl of recoverable resources.
ExxonMobil Canada Properties operates the Hebron project (36%). It’s co-venturers are Suncor Energy (22.7%), Nalcor Energy (4.9%) and Canadian subsidiaries of Chevron (26.7%) and Statoil (9.7%). The consortium received official project sanction on the last day of the year in 2012. First oil is expected before YE 2017.
Aerial shot of the GBS from ExxonMobil.
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