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Hard Hat North Offshore Oil Guide
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Newfoundland's offshore platforms: where they are and who runs them

Four named production installations sit on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland: Hibernia, Terra Nova, White Rose (produced through the SeaRose FPSO), and Hebron. Here's where each one actually is, how deep the water is, who operates it, and when it first produced oil.

Key facts

Hibernia
~315 km ESE of St. John's, ~80 m water, first oil Nov 17, 1997
Source: C-NLOPB / HMDC, accessed 2026-09-07
Terra Nova
~350 km ESE of St. John's, ~90-100 m water, restarted Nov 27, 2023
Source: World Oil, accessed 2026-09-07
White Rose (SeaRose FPSO)
~350 km E of St. John's, ~120 m water, first oil Nov 12, 2005
Source: Offshore Technology, accessed 2026-09-07
Hebron
~350 km ESE of St. John's, ~93 m water, first oil Nov 27, 2017
Source: Offshore Technology, accessed 2026-09-07

All four fields sit in or near the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the northeast Grand Banks, within a couple hundred kilometres of each other, and every one of them is reached from St. John's by helicopter (see /platform-life/ for what that commute is actually like). The C-NLOPB -- the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, the joint federal-provincial regulator for this offshore -- publishes an official project map and description for each field; that's the authority below, cross-checked against each operator's own site.

Hibernia

Hibernia is roughly 315 km east-southeast of St. John's (the C-NLOPB's own summary rounds this to about 300 km east-southeast), in about 80 metres of water. It's produced through a single gravity-base structure (GBS) -- a fixed concrete platform built to sit on the ocean floor and withstand iceberg impact -- and has been in production since first oil on November 17, 1997, making it the province's first offshore production platform. It's operated by Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) on behalf of the field's joint-venture partners.

Terra Nova

Terra Nova is about 350 km east-southeast of St. John's. It's produced through the Terra Nova FPSO (floating production, storage, and offloading vessel) rather than a fixed platform. First oil was January 20, 2002, but production was suspended in 2019 after a crack was found in the vessel's hull; the FPSO underwent an Asset Life Extension refit and returned to production on November 27, 2023. It's operated by Suncor Energy Inc. on behalf of its partners.

White Rose (SeaRose FPSO)

The White Rose field is about 350 km east of St. John's, in about 120 metres of water. It has no fixed platform of its own -- production flows from subsea wells to the SeaRose FPSO, which stores and offloads the oil. First oil was November 12, 2005. It's operated by Cenovus Energy, which also operates the adjacent West White Rose development still under construction (see the FAQ below).

Hebron

Hebron is about 350 km east-southeast of St. John's, in about 93 metres of water. Like Hibernia, it's produced through a gravity-base structure built to withstand iceberg impact. First oil was November 27, 2017. It's operated by ExxonMobil Canada Properties on behalf of the field's partners.

Terra Nova's water depth is reported inconsistently across sources as "between 90 m and 100 m" rather than one exact figure -- treat "roughly 90-100 m" above as an estimate and confirm against the C-NLOPB or Suncor directly if you need a precise number.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the Hibernia platform?

Hibernia sits in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Grand Banks, roughly 315 km east-southeast of St. John's (the operator's own figure -- the C-NLOPB rounds this to about 300 km east-southeast), in about 80 metres of water.

Who operates Hibernia?

Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) operates the platform on behalf of the field's joint-venture partners: ExxonMobil Canada, Chevron Canada, Suncor Energy, Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation, Murphy Oil, and Equinor Canada.

How deep is the water at these four platforms?

It varies by field: about 80 m at Hibernia, roughly 90-100 m at Terra Nova, about 93 m at Hebron, and 120 m at White Rose (SeaRose FPSO) -- all well within diver-free, remotely-operated-vehicle territory rather than deepwater by global standards.

Which platforms are fixed to the seabed and which float?

Hibernia and Hebron are gravity-base structures (GBS): concrete platforms built to sit permanently on the ocean floor and resist iceberg impact. Terra Nova and White Rose are produced through floating production, storage, and offloading vessels (FPSOs) -- the Terra Nova FPSO and the SeaRose FPSO -- which stay on station but ride with the sea.

Are there more offshore platforms planned for Newfoundland?

Yes -- Cenovus Energy's West White Rose project, a new fixed drilling platform tied back to the existing SeaRose FPSO, was targeting first oil in 2026 as of the most recent public updates. It is not yet a confirmed producing installation as of this writing, so it isn't included in the list above; check the Sources below for the most current status.

Sources

Sources

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