A spokeswoman for the supermajor said: "We're not pursuing subsea. It's not required given the existing infrastructure on the platform."
Speaking from St John's, she said the company was "still evaluating options," but declined to be more specific.
However, local sources suggested the decision to ditch a subsea production system is likely to be a prelude to the Hibernia partners opting to tap these new reserves via extended reach wells drilled from the field's gravity-based platform.
The
