We’re an active player in Canada – one of the most resource-rich countries in the world. Equinor’s East Coast Canada assets are a high priority within our global portfolio. Equinor operates numerous discoveries in the Flemish Pass basin and is a partner in two developments in the Jeanne d’Arc basin offshore the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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St John's
Steers Cove
NL A1C 6J5, St. John’s
Canada
Tel: +1 709-726-9091
Offshore licences
We are active in some of the most exciting energy resource areas in Canada, operating interests in several exploration, development and production licenses offshore Newfoundland where we are applying deep water development lessons learned from our work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Equinor has made oil discoveries in the Flemish Pass offshore Newfoundland, including the Bay du Nord discovery, and work is ongoing to assess options for developing Bay du Nord. Equinor is the operator of Bay du Nord and holds a 65% working interest. For more information on Bay du Nord, see the link below.
Equinor is active in the Jeanne d’Arc basin offshore Newfoundland with partner-operated producing fields Hebron and Hibernia.
Leading a new offshore era
We have been present offshore Newfoundland and Labrador since 1996, when Norsk Hydro first acquired assets. Through our operating and partner fields, we are making significant investments in Canada’s offshore industry. Our ambition is to become an operator offshore East Coast Canada.
We have strengthened our long-term position in the Canadian offshore by acquiring exploration licenses in the Flemish Pass Basin in 2015 and the Jeanne d’Arc Basin in 2018, where we will apply the exploration knowledge and experience we have gained globally and in the North Atlantic specifically.
The growth of our portfolio offshore Newfoundland supports the company’s long-term position in the Canadian offshore.
Offshore Newfoundland is known to have a harsh environment for petroleum operations, with seasonal icebergs, wind and waves as well as deep water depths. With our vast experience as an operator in the Norwegian Continental Shelf and as a partner in established developments offshore Newfoundland, we are well-equipped to deal with these challenges.
The continued appraisal and maturation of our Bay du Nord discovery highlights the progress we are making in potential field development.
Offshore production in Newfoundland equals approximately 40% of Canada’s light crude production. Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore resource potential are estimated at more than six billion barrels of oil.
Flemish pass basin
Equinor is operator of a number of discoveries offshore Newfoundland in the Flemish pass basin:
- Mizzen – Our first discovery made in 2009 in the Basin
- Harpoon – A light hydrocarbon discovery in 2013
- Bay du Nord – A 2013 discovery estimated to hold ~300 million barrels of light high-quality oil
- Baccalieu – A light high-quality oil discovery in 2016 approximately 15 km from the Bay du Nord discovery
- Cappahayden and Cambriol – Two discoveries made in 2020, approximately 500 kms east of St. John’s, NL
The discoveries are in a water depth of about 1,100 meters, located within 10 to 20 kilometers of each other, and about 500 kms offshore from St. John’s, the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador. bp is a 35% partner in the first five discoveries, while Equinor retains the other 65%. At the 2020 Cappahayden and Cambriol discoveries, Equinor holds 60% interest, while bp holds 40%. With the discovery of Bay du Nord, Newfoundland became a core area in our exploration portfolio.
The geology of the Flemish Pass Basin is very encouraging. The reservoir offers excellent Jurassic reservoirs with high porosity, high permeability and mature source rocks. The geology is very similar to what we experience in the NCS and the discoveries at Bay du Nord and Harpoon offer light, high-quality crude oil.
We have operated a number of exploration programs offshore Newfoundland since 2007.
Projects offshore Newfoundland
Equinor also holds working interests in the following projects:
- ExxonMobil-operated Hebron (9%) producing asset
- ExxonMobil-operated Hibernia (5%) producing asset/Hibernia Southern Extension (9%)
The Hibernia oil field has proven and probable field reserves totaling about 1.6 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, making it the province's largest producing field to date.
The Hebron oil field started producing in November 2017 and is the second largest field in production offshore Newfoundland. The field is expected to produce 731 million barrels of recoverable oil in its lifetime.
Investing in local communities
We have a strong commitment to local investment in Canada and we aim to put local communities first in everything we do. We believe that bringing long-term value to local communities is important to the sustainability of our business and to the economic prosperity of the region.
We work to maintain the strong relationships we have built by aligning our business activities and investing in areas that promote local involvement in our operations.
Sustainability is no longer just about doing business responsibly – it’s also about seeing social and sustainability challenges as opportunities for innovation and development. We strive to create shared value opportunities by working closely with communities and aligning our business activities so that we can proactively and effectively create local value. We use a model of collaboration and partnership to address challenges and create value for local communities and for our business. This approach is integrated into our corporate social responsibility practices and guides our local content and social investment considerations. We promote social sustainability through a number of areas, including involvement in our tendering process to promote local sourcing, through social investment programs, as well as through strategic multi-organization partnerships and initiatives.
Offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, we have a Benefits Plan in place in which we have made a commitment to providing opportunities to Canada and, in particular Newfoundland and Labrador. This means that personnel and companies from Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada will have full and fair opportunity to compete for the supply of goods and services, research and development, and employment vacancies—with first consideration going to the province.
To build our knowledge of the cold and icy waters of eastern Canada, in 2015, the company led a collaborative research expedition in the harsh environment offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
The 18-day expedition was a joint initiative between Equinor, ArcticNet, the Research and Development Corporation, Husky Energy, as well as other representatives from academia and industry. The team of 40 scientists and technicians participated in the program aboard the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard-operated research icebreaker including six of our representatives.
Through this project, we kept safety top-of-mind while field-testing technologies, which will provide new data and valuable insight specific to the area. In addition to the equipment available on the Amundsen, Equinor (then Statoil) deployed its own metocean and sea-ice measurement mooring equipment in strategic locations offshore. These measurements secured long-term statistics including sea ice thickness and drift, an important design parameter for any future offshore installation.
- New techniques for iceberg profiling, improved iceberg drift forecasts, and advanced datasets.
- Testing of new technologies for remote sensing and ice detection capabilities such as satellite imagery for detection of ice and icebergs in low visibility conditions, as well as marine radars to discriminate between first year and multi-year ice.
- Operation and comparative analysis of marine mammal detection and tracking tools, including an innovative Equinor-initiated target range finder, plus sophisticated active sonar for mammal detection.
- Field-testing of an autonomous system, to measure and transmit data on winds, wave height, water current speed and direction, plus other metrological parameters.
From these new insights, Equinor and the local research community will strengthen forecasting models for sea ice and iceberg surveillance, potentially reducing the number of disconnections from drilling rigs
Heroes of Tomorrow
Equinor is a supporter of local communities and youth talent development in Canada through sponsorship pillars covering arts and culture, sports and STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics). Currently, Equinor is the proud sponsor of the following programs and events:
Since 2013, Equinor has been the presenting sponsor of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival. This three-day, annual festival boasts a line-up of Canadian and local artists, as well as activities for families, including folk-inspired instrument and youth music workshops aimed at keeping the tradition of folk music alive in Newfoundland and Labrador. As part of the festival, Equinor also sponsors an interactive youth workshop in collaboration with the headlining children’s entertainer, in addition to the Equinor MusicNL NewFound Talent Contest for musicians 19 and under, where aspiring artists have the opportunity to jump-start their musical career.
Facilitated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC), the ArtsSmarts program inspires children to develop their creative abilities by increasing arts and cultural activities in classroom curricula. In 2014, Equinor joined ArtsSmarts to bring professional artists into the classroom to teach and encourage an appreciation of arts and culture.
As part of our commitment to talent development, we also established the Equinor ArtsSmarts scholarship, awarded to a Newfoundland and Labrador high school student enrolled for first year full-time art studies in a degree or diploma program at a Canadian university or college.
MATE’s underwater robotics competition uses underwater robots or remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to prepare students for technical careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Since 2012, Equinor has been a sponsor of the regional competition in St. John's, NL that challenges high school students to build ROVs to tackle missions modelled after scenarios from the ocean workplace and that are critical to oil and gas development. MATE’s international student underwater robotics competition has a network of 36 regional contests that take place across the United States, China, Hong Kong, Scotland, Canada, Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Bermuda. There are categories for all ages to participate, from upper elementary to university and community organizations.
Techsploration is a career exploration program facilitated by Women in Resource Development Corporation (WRDC) that provides grade nine girls the opportunity to explore occupations in science, trades, engineering and technology, while raising awareness about the importance of math and science-based work in their future lives. Every year, Equinor welcomes a group of young girls from a local high school into our St. John’s office to learn from female Equinor employees working in STEM. Later in the year, the students and their Equinor role models attend a two-day forum with other students and industry role models to participate in workshops, tours, and activities related to STEM to strengthen their skills in communication, leadership, and teamwork.
Financial and legal reports
In accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements, Equinor Canada Ltd. has published the following report for Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA).
- Equinor 2023 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2023 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report
- Equinor 2022 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2022 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2021 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2021 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2020 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2020 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2019 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2019 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2018 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2018 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2017 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2017 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)
- Equinor 2016 ESTMA cover page (PDF)
- Equinor 2016 ESTMA substituted & consolidated report (PDF)