Shell to take a 30 per cent stake in Equinor’s Bay du Nord offshore project as the $14-billion plan nears a 2027 decision

Shell has agreed to buy a 30 per cent non-operated interest in Equinor’s proposed Bay du Nord oil project off Newfoundland and Labrador, the companies said on Friday, as the roughly $14-billion development moves toward a final investment decision targeted for early 2027. In an Equinor news release, the Norwegian producer said it will retain a 70 per cent interest and remain operator. “We are pleased to welcome Shell as a partner in Bay du Nord. This is a strategic project for Equinor, with a high-quality resource base and the potential to create significant long-term value,” said Philippe Mathieu, Equinor’s executive vice-president for exploration and production international.

Shell Canada Energy, an affiliate of Shell plc, said in a statement distributed by CNW that the deal gives it “an attractive entry point, with expected returns above our hurdle rate, and exposure to an established resource base with potential longer-term growth.” The company stressed that Bay du Nord remains pre-FID and that any future investment decision “will be subject to Shell’s investment criteria and will need to compete for capital within our portfolio.”

Bay du Nord sits in the Flemish Pass basin about 500 kilometres east of St. John’s, in water 600 to 1,170 metres deep — farther from shore than any other offshore oil project in the world, The Canadian Press reported via CBC News. Equinor’s project facts list discoveries at Bay du Nord (2013) and Cambriol (2020) for the initial phase, with potential later tiebacks at Cappahayden, Harpoon and Baccalieu. The development concept is a phased subsea system tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, or FPSO.

Equinor estimates recoverable resources of more than 400 million barrels of oil in the initial phase, with investment of about CAD $14 billion, first oil expected in 2031 and an FID planned for early 2027. Shell’s release put planned gross production capacity at 160,000 to 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Reuters, carried by MarketScreener, said the investment estimate equates to roughly US$9.84 billion at the exchange rate it cited, and noted the deal follows Shell’s wider Canadian push after its US$16.4-billion acquisition of ARC Resources and progress on LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion.

The partnership lands about three months after BP agreed to sell its 37.2 per cent interest in Bay du Nord to Equinor, CBC reported. Equinor said it is finishing front-end engineering and design, with work focused on capital efficiency, execution planning and project robustness, and that “constructive engagement with provincial and federal governments has supported progress through key milestones.”

Mathieu said Shell’s entry “strengthens the project as we continue to mature it towards a final investment decision.” Equinor framed the sale as supporting portfolio management, capital allocation and risk sharing on large developments. Both companies said any go-ahead remains subject to market conditions, regulatory approvals and internal decision processes.

If it proceeds, Bay du Nord would be Canada’s first deepwater oil development, according to CBC. The project has long been politically sensitive in Newfoundland and Labrador and in federal climate debates, but Friday’s announcements focused on commercial partnership rather than a construction start. Equinor and Shell said they will keep maturing the plan together ahead of the early-2027 decision window.

Sources: Equinor: Equinor and Shell partner on the Bay du Nord project (Oct. 9, 2026); Shell Canada via CNW/Newswire (Oct. 9, 2026); The Canadian Press via CBC News (Oct. 9, 2026); Reuters via MarketScreener (Oct. 9, 2026).