Chevron Corp. has reported the start of oil and natural gas production from Jack-St. Malo fields development project in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico. The company expects total production from the fields to ramp up to 94,000 b/d of crude and 21 MMcfd of gas by 2020.
Discovered within 25 miles of each other in 2003 and 2004, respectively, Jack and St. Malo fields lie in 7,000 ft of water 280 miles south of New Orleans. Chevron estimates the combined total recoverable resources of the two fields to be more than 500 MMboe.
The Jack and St. Malo fields were co-developed with subsea completions flowing back to a single semisubmersible floating production unit sited between the fields. With a production capacity of 174,000 b/d and 42 MMcfd, it is the largest of its kind in the gulf, says Chevron.
Oil will be transported via pipeline to a platform on Green Canyon Block 19, then on to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
Chevron says that new technologies facilitated Jack-St. Malo development. These include large-diameter, high-pressure pipelines, the industry’s largest seafloor boosting system, and the first application of deepwater ocean-bottom node seismic technology.
The deepwater seismic provided images of subsurface layers 30,000 ft below the ocean floor, the depth to which Jack-St. Malo wells were drilled.
Chevron holds a 50% working interest in Jack field, with partners Statoil ASA and Maersk Oil holding 25% each.
Chevron holds a 51% working interest in St. Malo field, with partners Petroleo Brasileiro SA 25%, Statoil 21.5%, ExxonMobil Corp. 1.25% and Eni SPA 1.25%.
