Oil production in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) will reach record high levels in 2017, due to some 14 projects starting up during 2015-17, despite low oil prices.
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Anadarko's Heidelberg. Image from Anadarko. |
Production from GoM projects will average 1.63 MMb/d this year, increase nearly 9% to 1.79 MMb/d in 2017, with a further increase of some 7% by year-end 2017 to 1.91 MMb/d. For the total forecast of US crude oil production, the GoM is expected to account for 18% in 2016, and 21% in 2017, according to a new report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“Decreasing profit margins and reduced expectations for a quick oil price recovery have prompted many GoM operators to pull back on future deepwater exploration spending, reduce their active rig fleet by scrapping and stacking older rigs, and restructure or delay drilling rig contracts. These changes added uncertainty to the timelines of many GOM projects, with those in the early stages of development at greatest risk of delay or cancellation,” the EIA said.
Paving the way for record breaking production, are eight projects that have been online since 2015 from Shell, ExxonMobil, Anadarko, Noble Energy, and LLOG Exploration.
Shell started its Silvertip project, which is part of its Perdido development, the world’s deepest offshore oil drilling and production platform; and subsea fields West Boreas and Deimos South, which are part of the company’s Mars B project. To date, the Mars field has produced more than 850 MMboe.
ExxonMobil began production at its deepest subsea tie-back, Hadrian South, in March 2015. The project is expected to have a gross production of some 300 MMcf/d and 3000 b/d of liquids from two wells. It is also a tie-back to Anadarko’s Lucius project, which also started production last year.
Anadarko started first production at Lucius in January 2015, where natural gas is being processed at a floating facility capable of processing 80,000bbl and 450 MMscf/d of natural gas.
Noble Energy brought both its Big Bend and Dantzler projects online in 2015. Production commenced at Big Bend in October, and the two-well development Dantzler in November. Both are subsea tie-backs to to the Thunder Hawk production facility.
LLOG brought Marmalard online, a tie-back to its Delta House floating production system, in Q2 2015.
This year, four fields are expected for start-up form Shell, Noble Energy, Anadarko, and Freeport McMoRan.
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Deepwater Thalassa began Shell's Stones project this month. Image from Transocean. |
Anadarko’s Heidelberg, which has already achieved first oil four months ahead of time in January, is one of those projects. Heidelberg is an 80,000 b/d floating production facility, and is Anadarko’s newest spar and a replication of the Lucius spar as part of the company’s “design one, build two” approach, which began production in January 2015, also in the GoM.
Shell is also contributing to the list, as the supermajor began its Stones project this month using the Transocean Deepwater Thalassa newbuild ultra deepwater drillship. Production from the first phase of development includes two subsea production wells tied back to a FPSO host vessel, followed at a later phase by six additional wells with multiphase pumping.
Having dedicated US$250 million of its 2016 production budget for the GoM, Noble Energy expects to start up Gunflint with first production set for mid-year.
Also scheduled for start up is Freeport McMoRan’s at its 100% owned Holstein Deep platform. Completion activities at Holstein Deep for the initial three-well subsea tieback development are on schedule, with first production expected by mid-2016. All three wells are slated to commence production at about 24,000 boe/d.
The other two fields expected to begin producing in 2016 (Gunflint and Holstein Deep) are subsea tiebacks.
In 2017, LLOG anticipates to bring Son of Bluto 2 into production that will be a tie-back to Delta House. In addition, Freeport McMoRan plans to bring Horn Mountain Deep online in 1H 2017 as a subsea tie-back.
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Anadarko brings Heidelberg online
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