Sable Offshore gas platform shut down permanently

Natural gas production has permanently ceased at the Sable Offshore Energy Project, a production platform off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, which had been in operation for 20 years.

The platform's peak production rate topped 600mn cf/d (17mn m³/d) in December 2001, but in its final month of activity last more month it averaged only about 60mn cf/d, according to The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. Operator ExxonMobil in March 2018 applied to abandon the mature field as production there was expected to decline.

The shutdown further limits gas supplies to New England following the mid-2018 shutdown of nearby production platform Deep Panuke. The two sites in past years produced more than enough gas to serve nearby Canadian demand, so excess production was shipped into New England through the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline. The region typically relied on those shipments combined with LNG deliveries to help it meet demand during times of cold weather.

Sable Offshore's late 2018 production was equal to nearly 70pc of gas delivered into Massachusetts during peak winter months, according to BTU Analytics. Relatively mild winter weather so far this season has insulated New England from the spot gas price spikes that can occur during times of extreme cold. Prices at some New England indexes in January 2018 rose higher than $83/mmBtu during a severe cold snap.