By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept 23 -- A unit of Williams Cos. Inc., Tulsa, has begun receiving natural gas through its 500 MMcfd Canyon Station production-handling platform commissioned earlier this summer in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The fixed-leg platform stands in 300 ft of water on East Main Pass Block 261, about 60 miles south of Mobile Bay, Ala. (OGJ Online, July 23, 2002). Production from 35,000 acres of federal leases is dedicated to the facility.
Current initial gas volumes are being sourced from two deepwater Mississippi Canyon wells in water 5,000-7,200 ft deep—one in Aconcagua field operated by TotalFinaElf E&P USA Inc. and the other in Kings Peak field operated by BP PLC. The platform is expected to begin running at nearly full capacity by the end of October when nine other wells in Kings Peak, Aconcagua, and Marathon Oil Co.-operated Camden Hills fields begin production.
"This is. . .a tribute to the success of our producer customers who are developing vital energy resources from some of the deepest wells in the world," said Phil Wright, president and CEO of Williams' energy services unit.
The system marks a world record water depth for natural gas production, which is gathered and transported to the Canyon Station production handling platform through the TotalFinaElf-operated Canyon Express natural gas gathering system.
At 57 miles, Canyon Express is one of the longest multiphase gas gathering lines in the world and marks the first time production from such deepwater fields is being commingled in a single flowline, another first for multiple fields.
Transporting production from such deep fields has required the development of advanced subsea technology such as the first use of subsea multiphase meters to determine the production from each individual well.
TotalFinaElf jointly owns Canyon Express with BP, Marathon Oil Co., Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc., and Nippon Oil Exploration USA Ltd. (OGJ Online May 7, 2002), which together share infrastructure for production delivery to the Canyon Station platform. The five Canyon Express working interest owners also own reserves in one or more of the three fields tied into the system.
Initial production will be ramped up over the next 2 months as remaining wells from the three fields are connected to the system, reaching an expected production plateau of 500 MMscfd.