Chevron has had three big hits over the past 12 months on the way to its goal of producing 300,000 boe/d from the Gulf of Mexico.
Last summer, it started production from its Anchor project, about 140 miles off the Louisiana cost, where it’s the operator and 62.86% owner. TotalEnergies owns the remainder.
In January, it delivered first oil from the Whale semi-submersible platform, about 200 miles southwest of Houston, where it owns 40% and operator Shell owns 60%.
Last week, Chevron and TotalEnergies started oil and natural gas production from the Ballymore subsea tieback, in 6,600 ft of water about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans. Ballymore is expected to produce up to 75,000 bbl/d of oil and 50 MMcf/d of gas through three wells tied back 3 miles to the existing Chevron-operated Blind Faith facility. Estimated potentially recoverable resources at Ballymore are 150 MMboe over the life of the project.
Chevron has also started using water injection to boost output at its operated Tahiti and Jack/St. Malo facilities in the Gulf.
Not a bad year’s work.
“We’re really proud of what the team’s accomplished,” said Neil Menzies, general manager for capital projects in the Gulf and a 25-year Chevron veteran. “It’s all come together since the middle of last year, but obviously years in the making.”
Menzies said improvements in technology have made new projects like these viable. The key gains have come in standardizing equipment and in seismic imaging, particularly the use of sensors on the ocean floor.
“Seismic technology is an area where we feel we have strong capability,” he said. “In particular, ocean bottom node seismic has allowed imaging of deeper, more complex reservoirs. The journey we’ve been on has been challenging ourselves on how to safely deliver these developments at much lower cost.”
Ballymore is a good example of that efficiency. The field was discovered seven years ago, Menzies said, well after the Blind Faith platform came online in 2008. The team modified the platform to accommodate the output from the new field, saving the cost of building a new platform.
“We effectively added about 25% top sides weight to the existing facility,” he said. “That’s challenging work.”
The Anchor floating production unit reaches reservoir depths of 34,000 ft from the water surface. It uses subsea high-pressure technology rated to 20,000 psi at the wellhead.
“Previously it was 15,000 psi,” he said. “With our suppliers, we’d worked to build that 20,000 psi capability for wells and subsea equipment. That required working closely with BSEE (the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement) to make sure that we are developing these new designs and validating those as safe for operations.”
The ability to handle extra pressure adds to Chevron’s inventory.
“That’s unlocked probably about 20% or thereabouts of our exploration portfolio,” Menzies said. “And that 20% number is current, but clearly we will continue to look for additional opportunity in that space now that we’ve commercialized and proven the technology.”