Another Gulf of Mexico deepwater project on tap

Amerada Hess Corp. and Oryx Energy Co. plan to use a compliant tower platform to develop a deepwater oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico. Partners opted for compliant tower technology to hold down construction and installation costs while retaining low operating costs and other advantages of a conventional fixed platform.

Dec. 18, 1995

2 min read

Amerada Hess Corp. and Oryx Energy Co. plan to use a compliant tower platform to develop a deepwater oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico.

Partners opted for compliant tower technology to hold down construction and installation costs while retaining low operating costs and other advantages of a conventional fixed platform.

Plans call for installing a compliant tower in about 1,650 ft of water to support drilling, production, and processing operations at the Garden Banks 260 project. It is located on Garden Banks blocks 259, 260, and 216 and the southern part of Garden Banks Block 215. The four tract unit is about 120 miles southwest of Morgan City, La.

Production is to begin in 1998, with peak output projected at 50,000-60,000 bbl of oil equivalent (BOE)/day. Partners estimate the projects gross development spending at $320 million, including tower construction and installation, drilling and outfitting of 8-10 production wells, and installation of subsea transportation pipelines.

Platform processing facilities are being designed to handle 40,000 b/d of liquids and 150 MMcfd of gas. Production will come from high pressure gas, condensate. and oil reservoirs mainly in two fault blocks.

Partners have drilled nine wells in the Garden Banks 260 area.

Production rates in well tests in the field have exceeded 6,500 b/d of oil and 18 MMcfd of gas. Partners estimate reserves within the four tract area at as much as 200 million BOE and expect to recover 100-120 million BOE with the development plan approved.

Detailed study of seismic data indicates additional exploration potential of 50-80 million BOE. The 50-50 partners are drilling an exploratory well on Garden Banks 216 and have mapped more targets nearby.