Newfoundland's Terra Nova oilfield faces more delays, uncertainty

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — An oilfield off the southeast coast of Newfoundland that hasn’t produced crude since 2019 is facing more setbacks.

Calgary-based Cenovus Energy, which owns 34 per cent of the Terra Nova offshore oilfield, doesn’t expect any production from the project in 2023.

Company officials told reporters there is a holdup with the field’s storage and production vessel.

After years of delays, the vessel was taken out of the country for retrofitting and is now back in Newfoundland, waiting to sail out to the oilfield.

But Cenovus’s Norrie Ramsay says Suncor Energy — Terra Nova’s majority shareholder — has delayed that step and is conducting maintenance work on the vessel.

Suncor had said it expected Terra Nova to be back online by late spring or early summer this year, but the company now says it is still determining when the field will start pumping again.

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