Chevron announced first production today at its $5.7-billion deepwater Anchor project in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The milestone was achieved within 5 years of the company’s final investment decision, despite early construction delays and logistical challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US supermajor, which also recently announced plans to relocate its headquarters from San Ramon, California, to Houston, highlighted that the project was completed within budget and is celebrating the deployment of the industry’s first high-pressure systems rated for up to 20,000 psi, known as "20K" technologies.
“Application of this industry-first deepwater technology allows us to unlock previously difficult-to-access resources and will enable similar deepwater high-pressure developments for the industry,” said Nigel Hearne, executive vice president of products and gas for Chevron, in a statement.
The Anchor field, located 140 miles offshore Louisiana in approximately 5,000 ft of water, will ultimately include seven wells connected to a semisubmersible floating production unit (FPU) with a nameplate capacity of 75,000 B/D of oil and 28 MMscf/D of gas. Chevron has identified potential modifications that could increase this capacity by nearly 15%, bringing it up to 86,000 B/D.
Chevron estimates that the development, which targets the Lower Tertiary Wilcox trend, holds recoverable reserves of up to 440 million BOE. Chevron holds a 62.8% stake in the project, with TotalEnergies owning the remaining interest.
Anchor’s FPU is Chevron’s sixth operated facility in the GOM, with the company projecting that its combined production in the region is on pace to reach 300,000 B/D by 2026.
In a series of new technical papers presented at the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Chevron shared details on many of the industry firsts that were key to realizing the Anchor project which was discovered in 2014.
Among these is the construction of the Deepwater Titan drillship, the first vessel rated for 20K-psi operations. The Transocean-owned drillship is just one component of a broad suite of over two dozen new 20K drilling, completion, and intervention technologies developed by Chevron and its partners.
Chevron's OTC papers also show that the maximum shut-in wellhead pressure expected at Anchor is about 16,700 psi. The company said it moved forward with the development of 20K-rated equipment not only to push the boundaries of industry technology in anticipation of future 20K projects in the Lower Tertiary but also to align with manufacturer preferences for building systems in 5,000-psi increments (e.g., 10,000 psi, 15,000 psi, 20,000 psi), which cater to smaller market segments.
With oil now flowing at Anchor, the significance of the Lower Tertiary play is expected to gain increased attention. Recent analysis by Enverus Intelligence Research projects that production from this high-pressure, low-permeability, and ultradeep formation may grow from an average of 270,000 B/D in 2023 to nearly 750,000 B/D by 2028. This surge would increase the Lower Tertiary's share of the total US GOM production from 13% to nearly 40% of the roughly 2 million B/D in anticipated output.
Last month, BP sanctioned its first 20K project in the GOM with first oil expected in 2029 and a budget of less than $5 billion. BP stated that it had to wait for the development of 20K technology before making a final investment decision on the field, which was discovered in 2006.
