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Terra Nova FPSO

Terra Nova is a purpose-built, ice-strengthened FPSO serving the Terra Nova oil field on Canada’s Grand Banks. First oil was produced on 20 January 2002. Located about 350 kilometres south-east of St John’s in roughly 95 metres of water, it receives production from subsea glory-hole drill centres, processes and stores crude, reinjects gas and exports oil by tandem offloading to shuttle tankers.

Operator: Suncor Energy

Status: Operational

Terra Nova FPSO platform photo

Image Source: Creative Commons. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

Production: Oil

Operations start: 2002

Water depth: 95 m

Country: Canada

Block: PL 1002, PL 1003, PL 1004

Type: FPSO

Field

Terra Nova lies in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin on the Grand Banks. Oil occurs mainly in stacked, Late Jurassic braided-fluvial sandstones of the Jeanne d’Arc Formation, contained within a faulted, plunging anticlinal structure. The large field is developed entirely through subsea wells arranged around the FPSO, with production, water injection and gas injection providing drainage and pressure support without a fixed wellhead platform.

Facilities

A 2017 regulator report listed 33 Terra Nova development wells: 18 oil producers, 11 water injectors and four gas injectors. The wells are arranged on seven subsea templates installed in four excavated glory holes approximately ten metres deep, protecting trees, manifolds and control equipment from iceberg scour. Trenched flowlines, flexible risers and electro-hydraulic umbilicals connect the drill centres to the FPSO. The turret system accommodates nineteen production, injection and control risers and umbilicals. Topsides processing separates oil, gas and produced water, stabilises crude and compresses gas. Water-treatment and high-pressure injection facilities provide reservoir-pressure support, while associated gas is used for fuel or reinjected; there is no permanent sales-gas export pipeline. Installed systems also include well testing, production and export metering, chemical injection, onboard power generation, flare and pressure relief, firewater, emergency shutdown, fire-and-gas detection, subsea control, cargo handling and accommodation. The purpose-built vessel is approximately 292 metres long and has about 960,000 barrels of crude-storage capacity. It is connected to a disconnectable internal turret that permits weathervaning and can be released for iceberg avoidance. Self-propulsion and dynamic-positioning thrusters allow the FPSO to move clear and later reconnect. Stabilised crude is transferred from the stern to bow-loading shuttle tankers through a tandem-offloading hose. Terra Nova therefore combines subsea production hosting, processing, storage and offshore export without fixed surface wellheads.

Terra Nova FPSO layout

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