CALGARY — Cenovus Energy Inc.'s West White Rose project off the coast of Newfoundland has reached a major milestone with the completed refurbishment of the massive vessel that will operate in the expanded offshore oilfield.

The Calgary-based Cenovus provided an update Thursday on the progress of its West White Rose project, which it said is on schedule and about 85 per cent complete.

West White Rose is a multi-billion-dollar extension of the existing White Rose offshore oilfield, of which Cenovus is the operator and majority owner. Its joint venture partners are Suncor Energy Inc. and OilCo Newfoundland and Labrador.

The project is expected to add 14 years of production life to the White Rose field, which began producing oil in 2005.

It involves the construction of a fixed concrete drilling rig that will be tied into the oilfield's existing infrastructure. The company has been targeting 2026 for the start of oil production from the new drilling platform, with peak production expected to reach approximately 80,000 barrels per day by year-end 2029.

But Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie said the project — which was first sanctioned in 2017 but temporarily halted in 2020 due to the pandemic and a collapse in oil prices — has already reached a major milestone with the completion of planned maintenance work on the SeaRose floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

The ship, which has been operating off the coast of Newfoundland since 2005, will be linked to the new West White Rose offshore drilling platform but needed significant refurbishments before that could happen.

McKenzie told analysts on a conference call that the SeaRose was sent to Belfast, Ireland for the upgrades, and has spent approximately three months in dry-dock there while the work was completed.

He said the vessel is now on its way back to Canadian waters.

"Currently, the SeaRose is en route to the site, and we expect it to arrive in the next couple of days," McKenzie said, adding it will then take 30 to 45 days to reconnect the vessel to the White Rose production system.

"Importantly ... we now have the vessel ready for the West White Rose project, which basically enables this vessel to produce and receive production for an additional 14 to 15 years from today."

The refurbishment of the SeaRose was completed by ship fabricator Harland & Wolff, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In a news release last fall after being awarded the SeaRose contract, Harland & Wolff pegged the value of the refurbishment project at £61 million.