Chevron begins production from Big Foot project in US Gulf of Mexico

Chevron has commenced crude oil and natural gas production from the Big Foot project, a deepwater project developed with an investment of around $4bn in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Contained in the Walker Ridge Block 29, the Big Foot project is located nearly 360km south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Discovered in 2006, the Big Foot field is estimated to hold total recoverable resources of over 200 million oil-equivalent barrels. The discovery was made by the drilling of the Big Foot No. 2 well, using the Cajun Express semi-submersible rig, to a depth of 1,524m where it had intersected more than 91m of net oil pay.

Contained in a water depth of around 5,200ft, the Big Foot field has an estimated production life of 35 years.

According to Chevron, the Big Foot project employs a 15-slot drilling and production tension-leg platform, which has been designed to draw 75,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The Big Foot tension leg platform supports an onboard, full-capacity drilling rig to carry out development well drilling and interventions in the future. The project’s production wells are equipped with electric submersible pumps at a depth of 4,876m.

Chevron, through its subsidiary Chevron U.S.A. is the operator of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico project with a stake of 60%. Its partners in the Big Foot field are Equinor Gulf of Mexico and Marubeni Oil & Gas (USA) with stakes of 27.5% and 12.5%, respectively.

Chevron North America exploration and production president Jeff Shellebarger said: “The Big Foot project strengthens Chevron’s deepwater portfolio and further demonstrates that the Gulf of Mexico is an integral part of our diverse global portfolio and long-term strategy.

“The project advances our interest in safely providing reliable, affordable energy to meet a growing global demand.”

Recently, Chevron alongside Royal Dutch Shell was awarded rights for the Saturno block in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil during the country’s pre-salt oil auction. The company and Shell will hold a stake of 50% each in the offshore block through their respective Brazilian subsidiaries.

Source: https://www.compelo.com/energy/news/chevron-big-foot-project-production/