Texaco Inc. said Friday it has successfully installed the second deck module of its Petronius compliant tower platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 3,850-ton deck module was set on the existing tower Apr. 28 on Viosca Knoll Block 786, about 130 miles southeast of New Orleans. The tower stands in 1,754 ft of water, over 2,001 ft tall above the sea floor, making it the world's tallest freestanding structure, according to Texaco.
The Petronius platform has a maximum production capacity of 60,000 b/d of oil and 100 MMcfd of natural gas. Production is scheduled to begin by October 2000.
The tower was built to replace the original $70 million module, which was lost during its offshore lift in December 1998 (OGJ, Dec. 14, 1998 , p. 40). Petronius project costs are pegged at $500 million.
The Petronius field was discovered in 1995 and contains estimated recoverable reserves of 80-100 million boe. Texaco is operator and 50% interest owner; Marathon Oil Co., a unit of USX Marathon Group, Pittsburgh, owns the remainder.
