The Hebron project on the Grand Banks off eastern Canada should start producing by the end of 2 0 1 7 and recover 566 million bbl of oil over a 30 -year productive life, said project operator ExxonMobil Canada Properties. The partners expected to decide in the first half of 2009 whether they will predrill wells, the company said in a project description filed with the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

The project will involve development of Hebron, Ben Nevis, and West Ben Nevis fields in the Hebron Unit in 289-335 ft of water in the Jeanne d'Arc basin 211 miles eastsoutheast of St. John's, Newf, and S1A miles north of giant Terra Nova oil and gas field (Fig. 1 ) .

The province previously said production would begin as early as 2016 and build to 150,000 b/d in 2 years (OGJ Online, Feb. 2,2009).

HEBRON OFFSHORE PROJECT AREA Fig. 1

Development outline

Initial development will involve Hebron field only, but the unit includes four significant discovery license areas, 1006, 1007, 1009, and 1010.

The four SDLs contain the most likely extent of the oil for the delineated pools in the Hebron Unit, said the project description, filed in part to support environmental studies.

"The Hebron Unit could be expanded if additional studies, seismic or exploration and/ or delineation drilling proves that economically recoverable oil pool accumulations extend beyond the currently envisioned boundaries" of the unit, the company said.

A stand-alone, reinforced gravitybased structure would be used to develop the giant field with water injection as the main drive mechanism. That facility would be built at Bull Arm on Trinity Bay 130 km northwest of St. John's.

Produced gas could be used for artificial lift, production assist in secondary oil reservoirs, and for water-alternating gas injection to improve recovery in primary producing intervals.

SCHEMATIC CROSS-SECTION OF HEBRON PROJECT AREA Fig. 2

Interests in the four SDLs that comprise the He- bron unit are Exx- onMobil Canada Properties 36%, Chevron Canada Ltd. 26.7%, Petro- Canada 22.7%, and StatoilHydro Canada Ltd. 9.7%. The government's 4.9%) stake is held by N alcor Energy-Oil & Gas Inc., formerly Oil and Gas Corp. of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hebron reservoirs

Unit wells have encountered several reservoirs (Fig. 2) :

Hebron field: Ben Nevis reservoir, including the fault block penetrated by the D-94 and M-04 wells, and the fault block penetrated by the 1-13 well; the Lower Cretaceous Hibernia reservoir, defined by the 1-13 and M-04 wells; and the Upper Jurassic Jeanne d'Arc reservoir, including the isolated B, D, G, and H hydrocarbonbearing sands, defined by the 1-13 and M-04 wells.