Equinor has selected Fugro to perform a deep-water site investigation in Canada’s Flemish Pass, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
The site investigation will be undertaken 500 kilometres off the coast of St John’s, in water depths of approximately 1200 metres, according to Fugro.
Fugro’s field campaign will run from July until August and entails a seabed survey, an environmental survey and a soils investigation, with client deliverables scheduled for September.
The seabed and environmental surveys will be performed using Fugro’s newest autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), the Echo Surveyor VIII, which is designed to capture engineering-grade bathymetric, imaging and shallow geological feature data in deep water.
The environmental survey will also make use of proprietary 3D photogrammetric methods for improved delineation of cold water corals and other benthic habitats.
The soils investigation will be performed using Fugro’s SEACALF Mk IV seabed cone penetration test (CPT) system, according to Furgro.
Mike Cole , country manager for Fugro in Canada, said: “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Equinor in the region as we help address the company’s ongoing need for digital Geo-data acquisition, analysis and advice. This project will allow us to showcase our locally developed digital 3D photogrammetric mapping methods to augment traditional geophysical sensors, which allows more quantifiable target definition”.
To remind, the Norwegian energy giant Equinor made two oil discoveries offshore Newfoundland in October 2020.