Giant Kiewit-built structure en route to Cenovus’ project off Newfoundland

Topsides destined for an offshore platform operated by Canada’s oil and gas company Cenovus Energy have begun their journey from Kiewit’s yard in Texas to a field offshore Newfoundland.

As disclosed by the Canadian firm, the topsides for its West White Rose offshore platform started their 5,500-kilometer journey from Ingleside, Texas, to Newfoundland waters on June 3. The structure is scheduled to be installed in the White Rose field in July.

As reported by Kiewit in a social media post, the 23,000-tonne structure is the largest single-piece topside ever built at its Ingleside facility.

“Since the project began in 2017, our team has completed the fabrication, construction, integration, loadout and seafastening of the topside. Most importantly, the project was executed with an outstanding safety record, a testament to the team’s commitment to safety throughout every phase of work,” noted Kiewit.

Cenovus is the operator and majority owner of the White Rose field and satellite extensions. The original field was developed using subsea technology, consisting of three drill centres tied back to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The field is located 350 kilometres east of St. John’s.

The Canadian player expects the West White Rose project to access further resources to the west of the field, using a fixed drilling rig tied back to the existing FPSO SeaRose. In 2022, the developer expressed hope for the project to add an estimated 14 years of production to the White Rose field.

Cenovus’ Q1 2025 report from May stated that the West White Rose project was progressing toward installation and commissioning of the offshore platform later this year. At the time, the project was said to be approximately 90% complete and remained on schedule for first oil in Q2 2026.

The concrete gravity structure (CGS) was to be towed to its field location in Q2, followed by its mating with the topsides in Q3. The CGS and topsides will serve as the drilling platform.

“Once the West White Rose project is operating, we’ll be adding around 45,000 bbls/d of light sweet oil production tied to global pricing, generating significant free cash flow,” said Jon McKenzie, Cenovus President & Chief Executive Officer.

In addition to constructing the giant topside, Kiewit was recently selected to lead the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of Texas LNG’s proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Texas.

The terminal developer intends to work with Kiewit to complete the pre-final investment decision (FID) engineering required for the project to proceed to an FID.