Units of LLOG Exploration Co. LLC, Convington, La., have reported that development drilling has begun at the Buckskin field project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The field, which lies on Keathley Canyon Blocks 785, 828, 829, 830, 871, and 872 in 6,800 ft of water, was delineated by multiple prior wells.
The initial phase of this large-scale project will consist of two development wells drilled on Keathley Canyon 829 and a 6-mile subsea tieback to the Lucius platform at Keathley Canyon 875. Drilling and completion of the first two wells, which will be drilled to 29,000 ft, will be followed by installation of subsea facilities.
Start of production from Buckskin, which is estimated to contain 5 billion bbl of oil in place, is expected in mid-2019. In order to fully develop the field, additional wells and subsea facilities will be required after the initial phase.
Two LLOG affiliates, Buckstone Development Co. LLC and LLOG Deepwater Development Co. I LLC, own a combined 33.8% working interest in the Buckskin development. LLOG Exploration Offshore LLC is project operator.
Additional partners are Repsol E&P USA Inc. 22.5%, Beacon Offshore Energy Buckskin LLC 18.7%, Navitas Buckskin US LLC 7.5%, and two entities managed by Ridgewood Energy Corp.—Ridgewood Buckskin LLC and ILX Prospect Buckskin LLC—each of which owns 8.75%.
LLOG Pres. and CEO Scott Gutterman said, “The start of drilling at Buckskin is a significant milestone for LLOG, given the size of the field and the fact that it is our first development in the Lower Tertiary trend.”