American energy company Exxon Mobil announced that it started production at Hebron project, off the eastern coast of Canada, ahead of schedule. At its peak, the project is expected to produce up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day.
Discovered in 1980, the Hebron field is estimated to contain more than 700 million barrels of recoverable resources.
The platform, with a storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels of oil, is located about 200 miles (350 kilometers) offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, in water depths of about 300 feet (92 meters).
During its eight-year engineering, construction and startup phase, the Hebron project contracted hundreds of vendors throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and created about 7,500 jobs during the peak of the construction phase, the company said.
Hebron is operated by ExxonMobil affiliate, ExxonMobil Canada Properties, which holds 35.5% equity in the project. Chevron Canada Limited holds 29.6% interest, Suncor Energy Inc. holds 21%, Statoil Canada Ltd. has 9% and Nalcor Energy-Oil and Gas Inc. has 4.9%.
