I work on the Terra Nova FPSO, which is one of two FPSOs currently producing in the oil fields off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The FPSO is an acronym for “floating production storage and offloading”. These are floating production facilities, as opposed to the Hibernia production facility, which is gravity-based and sits on the ocean floor.
The amount of offshore activity has grown substantially over the decade and a half since the Hibernia facility was put in place and started producing. Hibernia was followed by the Terra Nova, which was followed by the SeaRose, which will be followed by another gravity-based structure that we currently refer to as the Hebron project. It is not going to stop there.
There are semi-submersible drill rigs operating on the Grand Banks: the GSF Grand Banks, the Transocean semi that is currently leased to Husky for the White Rose field; the Henry Goodrich, another semi; and the Transocean semi on lease at the moment to Suncor. The Stena Carron, a drill ship, has recently been doing drilling on the Grand Banks as well.
The number of supply boats has risen in order to cater to increased drilling and production on the Newfoundland Grand Banks. There is a required number of standby vessels for all of these facilities, as well as supply boats that transport equipment and supplies, as well as personnel, when the weather does not allow for helicopter flights.
The tankers are an integral cog in the wheel of offshore production. There is a fleet of tankers that transship the oil from the producing facilities to the transship and storage facility in Whiffen Head, Placentia Bay. The number of helicopter flights has risen proportionately as the number of facilities has increased on the Banks.
At any given time, somewhere in the range of 800 people are working offshore in oil-related jobs. This goes on all day, every day, 365 days a year, so this tells me we have to be prepared for events that can happen and can put lives in danger--our lives, the lives of the people who are living and working on these facilities. In the event of a catastrophic incident, the response time is going to mean the difference between life and death to the people who are caught up in the event.
When you talk about a response time, if I'm involved in any of these events, “immediate” would be the ideal one. And I know the logistics in all of this. That's unrealistic, but that's what I hope you would strive for if I'm out there in that water waiting to be rescued.
Our whole point here is to emphasize to you people something that you already know anyway,a and that is the increasing amount of activity going on in oil and gas alone out there on the Grand Banks. This is the substance of our submission here today.
Thank you.