OSLO, May 2 (Reuters) - Equinor ( EQNR ) has signed a

long-term deal with engineering companies to help drive down the

cost of developing two offshore oil discoveries that were

previously postponed, the Norwegian energy group said on

Thursday.

The agreement with the Subsea Integration Alliance, an

oilfield services group comprising Subsea7 and

OneSubsea, could help revive plans to develop Norway's Wisting

field and Canada's Bay du Nord, potentially unlocking around one

billion barrels of oil.

"Selecting the supplier at this early stage is a new way of

approaching project development for us," Equinor ( EQNR ) project

development head Trond Bokn said in a joint statement with

Subsea7.

"We look forward to develop concepts together, in a process

with full visibility on profitability, and joint efforts to make

these challenging projects sanctionable," he added.

Wisting and Bay du Nord were both discovered more than a

decade ago and are believed to contain about 500 million barrels

of oil each, Equinor ( EQNR ) has said.

Both projects face opposition from environmentalists who say

the planned production poses a risk to vulnerable eco-systems

and that the oil's eventual use will contribute to climate

change.

Equinor ( EQNR ) announced in 2021 plans to invest $8.8 billion to

develop the Arctic Wisting discovery which would have made it

the world's northernmost oilfield, but postponed the project the

following year as cost projections ballooned.

Bay du Nord, located in the Flemish Pass offshore

Newfoundland, has received the support of Canada's government,

but Equinor ( EQNR ) last year postponed it by three years, citing

soaring costs.

Still, the Norwegian operator has said it hoped to

eventually develop the field, and late last year revealed plans

for more drilling at Bay du Nord.

Equinor ( EQNR ) holds a 60% stake in the Canadian discovery while BP

owns 40%.

Equinor ( EQNR ) and Aker BP have 35% stakes each in Wisting, while

Norway's Petoro has 20% and Japan's Inpex Idemitsu 10%.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)