The first oil production well has come online at ExxonMobil Corp.-operated Julia field in the Gulf of Mexico, and a second will begin flowing in the coming weeks.
The Julia development is 265 miles southwest of New Orleans in more than 7,000 ft of water (OGJ Online, May 8, 2013). The initial development phase uses subsea tie-backs to the Chevron Corp.-operated Jack-St. Malo production facility (OGJ Online, Dec. 2, 2014).
More than 30,000 ft below the ocean’s surface, Julia’s development utilizes subsea pumps with “one of the deepest applications and highest design pressures in the industry to date,” ExxonMobil says.
The Maersk Viking drillship is currently drilling a third well expected to come online in early 2017. Production results will assist in the evaluation of additional wells included in the initial development phase, which has a design capacity of 34,000 b/d of oil.
Discovered in 2007, Julia field comprises five leases in the ultradeepwater Walker Ridge area. ExxonMobil and Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC each hold 50% interest.
ExxonMobil is on track to start up 10 upstream projects in 2016-17, adding 450,000 boe/d of working-interest production capacity. Over the past decade, the firm has drilled 187 deepwater wells worldwide in water ranging 2,100-8,700 ft.
