Page 33 - Sphere No.17 (Sep 2006)

WHITE ROSE IN BLOOM
WITH OVER 20 years of experience in Canada’s offshore East Coast, Husky is well positioned to capitalise on the area’s rich
reserves. Discovered in 1984, theWhite Rose offshore oil field is located in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin 350 kilometres east of St
John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The field contains an estimated 200 to 250 million barrels of recoverable oil. The first oil was extracted fromWhite Rose
in November 2005, marking the successful completion of the third offshore oil development on Canada’s East Coast.
Given the remote location and harsh environment, the cost of finding and extracting oil offshore is significantly higher than
for a land-based operation and fields generally have to be much larger to be commercially viable.
That said, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador will produce nearly 50 per cent of Canada’s conventional light crude
in 2006 from the three offshore oil fields currently in production (Hibernia,Terra Nova andWhite Rose).
White Rose was developed using the SeaRose FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading) vessel constructed in South
Korea. The SeaRose FPSO is 267 metres long and features a disconnectable turret that allows the vessel to change location in
the event of an emergency.
SPHERE 31
the devastation that I felt when I heard about it on the radio.
Our school held a memorial assembly to honour the men. The
students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 placed a yellow cardboard flame
each with a name atop of a green cardboard candle, one for every
man lost, on the front wall of our gym.
“I wanted so much to take part in that activity but I was only
in Grade 2 so I sat in the gym, watched and cried for all the
boys and girls who lost their daddies. To me, they were and still
are heroes.”
The memories came flooding back last year when she first
started to work offshore. “We were headed for White Rose on
the helicopter and it was so exciting to be part of this new indus-
try and at the same time I thought ‘the Ocean Ranger is down
there,’ ” she recalled. “And I said a quick prayer for the crew of
the Ocean Ranger and asked them to watch over me and the rest
of us while we are working out here.”
The start of Wanda’s offshore adventure was also a moment
to remember her father. In one of the first emails she sent to her
Husky colleagues in St John’s, the provincial capital of New-
foundland, she wrote: “Hi land-lovers. I am on board! As we
sail towards the Grand Banks the waters are very calm and so is
the office! It is so nice. There is not much movement just a very
gentle sway. It is an experience that I will not forget.
“I amwearing my badge with a picture of my dad and I, taken
when I was two years old. He loved being out on the water and
could not get waves big enough for his liking. I just so wish he
was still alive so that I could share my stories with him as I know
he would be just as excited as I am. Every time I look out over
the blue waters I smile and think ‘Dad this one is for you!’ ”
– Part of this story was extracted from a Husky publication
St.John’s White Rose
Oil Field
Jeanne d’Arc
Basin
Labrador
Quebec
Newfoundland