Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., Enterprise Oil Gulf of Mexico Inc., and Ocean Energy Inc. have awarded units of Williams contracts to gather and transport oil and gas produced from the Boomvang and Nansen fields in the Gulf of Mexico, said Williams. The Williams units will also process the gas production at a new onshore facility. The $200 million project is expected to be complete during fourth quarter 2001.
Nansen and Boomvang fields are located, respectively, on East Breaks 602 and East Breaks 642, 643, and 683 Blocks in the US Gulf of Mexico in 3,700 ft of water. The partners in the field recently awarded Aker Maritime Inc. a contract to provide a truss spar floating production system (OGJ Online, Oct. 9, 2000).
Williams is installing new offshore pipelines and building a new 300 MMcf/d gas processing plant near its existing liquids separation facility near Markham, Tex. This plant will be capable of extracting approximately 20,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids for ultimate delivery to Mont Belvieu, Tex., via a new pipeline lateral that will interconnect with Seminole Pipeline.
Williams will construct and operate the Seahawk Gathering System, which will carry all gas produced from the two fields. The Seahawk system will include 41 miles of 18-in. pipe that will carry the gas to a shallow-water facility, and a 55-mile, 24-in. pipeline that will carry gas from that facility to a connection with the company's Central Texas Gathering System.
It will also construct and operate the Boomvang and Nansen Joint Oil (BANJO) system to carry all oil from the fields. The system includes a 41-mile, 16-in. oil export pipeline that will connect to the same shallow-water facility as used for the gas system. The oil will then be transported through ExxonMobil Corp.'s Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline system.
Both pipeline systems will include junction facilities to gather oil and gas from future deepwater developments in the area.
Alan Armstrong, vice president of gathering and processing for Williams' midstream operations, said, "This is a landmark transaction for Williams because it positions us to be one of the largest independent service providers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. � From a bottom-line perspective, we foresee enough near-term activity in the deep water to more than double the operating profit of the gathering and processing portion of our midstream business by 2005."
