Mega drilling structure assembly marks milestone for Cenovus’ Newfoundland field

July 17, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

Canadian oil and gas company Cenovus Energy has merged two large structures forming part of the drilling platform at its field offshore Newfoundland, Canada.

As disclosed by Cenovus in a social media post, the topsides arrived at its White Rose field on July 16 after starting their journey from Kiewit’s yard in Texas on June 3. They were transported to the location on board the Pioneering Spirit construction vessel.

The 23,000-tonne platform was placed on the concrete gravity structure, marking what Cenovus says is a major milestone for the project. Thanks to fair weather, the operation was completed in two hours.

Kiewit fabricated, constructed, and integrated the topsides, including the facilities services block, a 144-person living quarters, a flare boom, a helideck, two lifeboat stations, drilling substructures, drilling floor, and utilities.

Cenovus will now shift its focus to the final stages of the project, which include hook-up and commissioning of the platform and the subsea tie-in work. First oil is said to be on track for Q2 2026, and the Canadian player expects the project to hit peak output in 2028.

The concrete base supporting the topside module arrived and was installed in the field on June 22.

Concrete platform base set in place at Cenovus’ Canadian field

Business Developments & Projects

Cenovus is the operator and majority owner of the White Rose field, which is located 350 kilometers east of St. John’s, and its satellite extensions. Its partners are Suncor Energy and OilCo, formerly known as Nalcor Energy.

The original field was developed using subsea technology, consisting of three drill centers tied back to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, SeaRose.

The expansion of White Rose will encompass the North Amethyst, West White Rose, and South White Rose satellite fields. The fixed-wellhead platform will access reserves in the West White Rose field, which is estimated to hold nearly 115 million barrels of oil. A fixed drilling rig will be tied back to the existing FPSO SeaRose.

In 2022, Cenovus expressed hope for the expansion project to add an estimated 14 years of production to the White Rose field.