Newfoundland mayor says town in transition after oil project phase completed

Cenovus Energy logos are on display at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, June 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

ST. JOHN’S — A Newfoundland and Labrador mayor says his region is facing a transition period after a massive concrete platform was towed out of the town last week, on its way to an offshore oilfield.

Keith Pearson, mayor of Placentia, N.L., said the labourers who’ve spent years building the structure for Cenovus Energy are looking for new jobs now that it’s nearly complete. And in the town of about 1,300 people, there are few options on the horizon, he said.

“You don’t replace those jobs overnight,” Pearson said in a recent interview. “It’s the boom and bust ... You go from very high point to (low), if there’s nothing on the back end of it. And right now, we’re not seeing anything on the back end of it.”

Calgary-based Cenovus is the majority owner of the White Rose oilfield, which is about 350 kilometres off the coast of St. John’s, N.L. The concrete gravity structure built in Argentia, N.L., which was amalgamated with Placentia and other neighbouring towns decades ago, is part of a development Cenovus calls West White Rose. The project involves a new drilling rig that will be connected to the main production and storage vessel in the White Rose field.

Employment for the West White Rose project has fluctuated over the years, from a high of 2,421 people in the spring of 2023, to a low of 406 people in the beginning of 2022, according to the province’s offshore oil regulator.

Cenovus did not respond to emails asking how many people were currently employed for the development, nor would the company say if any West White Rose workers had been laid off.

During a call with shareholders last week, chief executive Jon McKenzie said he would not discuss job losses at any of the company’s operating sites, “out of respect for the families and respect for the employees.”

“We are getting to the end of an investment cycle in this business, and our capital spending is decreasing,” McKenzie said. “Consistent with that, the amount of work that we have to do is decreasing, and that means we’ve got to readjust our labour force, to make it fit for purpose.”

Pearson said he last heard there were a few hundred people left working at the site. “Once the site is cleaned up and done, I mean, it’ll be phased out to zero.”

The 145-metre-tall concrete gravity structure was towed out of Argentia on Friday, according to a social-media post by the company. Officials said during the call last week that it will stop in nearby Arnold’s Cove for ballasting, and then be towed to the oilfield next month. Drilling is expected to begin before the end of the year, with first oil anticipated in 2026.

Pearson said there may be work opportunities when the rig is out at sea, but they’ll require different skills than the jobs that kept so many people in his region employed over the years. There may be jobs with the Port of Argentia, which is planning a $100-million dock expansion, the mayor said. And there is hope that Pattern Energy’s plans for a wind-energy development will go ahead in the region, he added.

But in the meantime, residents and businesses alike are facing an adjustment. The Cenovus project employed locals and brought people into the community who spent money at grocery stores and restaurants, he said.

“It’s certainly a transition period for now,” Pearson said.

By Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.