News Releases 2004

Spill Reported from Terra Nova FPSO

For Immediate Release
December 20, 2004

The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NOPB) has begun an investigation into a spill from the Terra Nova FPSO reported to the Board at 4:30 p.m. today, December 20, 2004. Petro-Canada, the operator of the FPSO, estimates the spill to be approximately 300 litres (2 barrels) of crude oil. The Terra Nova FPSO is located 350 kilometers east southeast of St. John’s in the Newfoundland & Labrador offshore area.

The Board has been advised by Petro-Canada that the oil likely came from the produced water treatment system. Petro-Canada has shut-in the produced water treatment system and production is limited to wells that do not produce water. The produced water treatment system cannot be restarted without the prior approval of the C-NOPB Chief Conservation Officer.

On-water oil recovery efforts are not possible at this point because of weather conditions at site. A storm warning has been issued for the Grand Banks area with winds averaging over 40 knots and seas expected to reach 6 meters by mid-morning.

At this time, it is not known if today’s spill is associated in any way with the larger spill from the FPSO that occurred on November 21, 2004. The investigation into that incident is still active.

Media Contact:
Simone Keough APR
Manager, Communications
(709) 778-1418
(709) 687-7429 (cell)


News Releases 2004

DateUpdate
2004, Dec 26Board Authorizes Terra Nova FPSO to re-start its produced water processing system and begin producing from wet wells
2004, Dec 20Spill Reported from Terra Nova FPSO
2004, Dec 15Board Authorizes Terra Nova FPSO to resume production
2004, Dec 10Comments sought on the Environmental Assessment Scoping document for a proposed exploratory drilling program in the Orphan Basin
2004, Dec 10Orphan Basin Exploration Drilling Program Project Registry – CEAR No. 04-03-7972
2004, Dec 10le bassin Orphan
2004, Dec 1Today, the Board is announcing two decisions related to the Terra Nova FPSO
2004, Dec 1Production Operations Authorization (POA)
2004, Nov 28Update on Recovery Efforts for Terra Nova Incident
2004, Nov 27Suspension Order Lifted on Henry Goodrich
2004, Nov 25Board Now Investigating Additional Spill at Henry Goodrich
2004, Nov 232004 Land Sale Results
2004, Nov 21Board Investigates Spill from Terra Nova FPSO
2004, Oct 22Board Investigates Spill from Drilling Rig
2004, May 20Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board Releases Flemish Pass Basin Hydrocarbon Resource Estimate
2004, May 19C-NOPB Releases Revised Reserve and Discovered Resource Estimates for Terra Nova
2004, May 4Negotiated Licences for Laurentian Sub-basin Announced
2004, Mar 232004 CALL FOR BIDS
2004, Jan 23Strategic Environmental Assessment Released