Encana Corp.’s Deep Panuke natural gas field offshore Nova Scotia, which has been in development in some form for more than 10 years, is scheduled to begin production before the end of June, according to the Dutch company that was hired to build and operate the production facility.

SBM Offshore NV said in a trading update on Thursday the project is “on track” to begin producing gas within a month’s time. “Commissioning is currently proceeding,” SBM said. It also said it had repaid in full a US$221 million loan to build the facility.

The contract with SBM is more than two years late and several million dollars over the original forecast. The platform was in the stages of being commissioned in January when an electrical fire forced almost 50 people to shore as a precautionary measure. The fire was contained to an electrical cabinet in the emergency switchboard room.

At that time, Encana said the project would be delayed, yet another stumbling block for the facility, which at one time was considered a top prospect for the Calgary producer, when gas prices were higher.

Encana predecessor PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. announced the Panuke discovery, about 155 miles southeast of Halifax, in early 2000, and within months a top exploration executive said it was the “most significant discovery in Atlantic Canada in more than a decade” (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10, 2000; Feb. 25, 2000). Pipeline proposals soon were launched, and plans to build the offshore project were on the drawing board by early 2001 (see Daily GPI, April 19, 2001; Feb. 6, 2001).

However, by early 2003, Encana requested a regulatory time-out as it reassessed what had at one time been an estimated 1 Tcf of reserves in the field and dwindling market interest (see Daily GPI, Feb. 18, 2003). The operator then turned its attention to North America’s onshore, where it has since mostly concentrated its capital. In 2007 Canadian regulators approved a redrafted plan, and Encana sanctioned it, saying at the time it would tentatively ramp up in 2010 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 26, 2007). The timetable since then has continued to be pushed back on delays by SBM.

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