Metocean Study
In 2015, in collaboration with C-CORE, our legacy company (Nalcor Energy-Oil and Gas) undertook the first iteration of a metocean and ice climatology study and database for the entire Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area. The study was updated in 2017 and 2022.
The Metocean study is a comprehensive study of metocean conditions, including bathymetry, winds, waves, currents, fog, vessel icing, sea surface temperature, pack ice, icebergs, and ice islands and the influence of environmental changes on such conditions. The study illustrates what is known about the existing metocean conditions for offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, and how the region ranks compared to other globally comparable frontier oil and gas regions around the world.
As part of OilCo’s exploration strategy, an ice and metocean study was considered critical information in frontier exploration. OilCo issued the Metocean Climate Study Reports for Phase 1 in May 2015, Phase 2 in September 2017, and Phase 3 in April 2022. Phase 1 covered 391 grid cells; Phases 2 and 3 encompass 575 grid cells.
The objectives of the study are to (a) characterize regional metocean conditions (winds, waves, currents, fog, vessel icing, pack ice, icebergs, ice islands, sea surface temperature) in the specified area of interest and influence of environmental changes on such conditions; and, (b) compare these conditions to those in other analogous internationally-explored regions (i.e., east and west Greenland, North Sea, Barents Sea, Canadian Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Kara Sea, Caspian Sea, Sakhalin Island, and Rockall, as well as the Grand Banks and Orphan Basin).
To facilitate the use of this vast dataset, OilCo uses Insight. This is a web-based, interactive database or Geographic Information System, which includes the metocean data presented in this report and other geographic and geophysical data of Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore.