06 February 2005

Some links to offshore oil and gas websites

Just a few links to give you more background information on offshore development.

Hibernia: Link to the official site for Hibernia Management and Development Company.

Here's Petro-Canada's site for Terra Nova.

Then there's White Rose. Just watch out for the flash animation at the start if you have dial-up or a slow connection of some kind. Just a lil design hint, Husky guys - make the flash an option or let people somehow skip it. I know it cost you a lot of cash, but after the umpteenth trip to the site it becomes more of a nuisance. For those people out there that have trouble with flash, lack of a "skip it" feature just turns them off.

While we are at it, here's a link to Offshore Technology.com and its summary of North American projects. Easy to read, with lots of good graphics and some easy to decipher charts, each of the project descriptions gives a fine overview. Take the one on White Rose for example, which gives a 3-D illustration of the field. Awesome!

Now if only the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNOPB) could find a way to get just a glimpse of their core and sample storage online. This is the regulatory authority for offshore development and while their mandate does not include public education as a Number One Priority - and nor should it be for them - the storage facility has a wealth of information that would assist the lay public appreciate what is going on offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

I had the opportunity of getting a tour of the facility a couple of years ago and it is truly amazing. Now when people talk about the heavy oil at the Hebron/Ben Nevis field or its heavily fractured structure, I can appreciate what they are talking about. From the 3-D seismic computer models CNOPB can build, the whole world that far offshore and that far underground is right in front of your eyes.

CNOPB Core Storage and Research Centre is accessible to the public, although priority seems to be given to academics and other researchers. There are fees that apply for use of the facility and those are available on the CNOPB website under General and the Catalogue of Information and Services.