Hibernia Management Development Co. Ltd. is making progress in construction of the key component for development of its Hibernia oil field on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.
The company towed the field's 120,000 metric ton concrete gravity base a short distance from a construction site at Bull Arm, Newf., 93 miles west of St. john's, to a deepwater assembly site.
Movement of the 62 ft high, 16 side unit, which will anchor a production platform, was completed by tugs and winches to a location 2 miles offshore. The Nov. 14 move was delayed several days by weather.
Five tugs were involved in the 11 hr tow at high tide at a rate of about 1 yd/min from a flooded drydock.
Construction of an ice wall and assembly of four of five topside modules under construction in Italy and Korea will take place at the new site in 650 ft of water. The gravity base is designed to withstand icebergs weighing as much as 6 million metric tons.
The $6.2 billion field development project is scheduled to begin production of about 150,000 b/d of oil in December 1997 at a site about 196 miles east of St. john's.
An estimated $2.84 billion has been spent to date on the project.
Project partners are Mobil Oil Canada Ltd., Chevron Canada Resources Ltd., Petro-Canada, Murphy Oil Ltd., and the federal government.
The federal government provided a $1 billion grant for Hibernia development and a $1.6 billion loan guarantee. It holds an 8.6% working interest in the project.
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