EXXON TO DEVELOP GULF GAS/CONDENSATE

Exxon Co. U.S.A. has installed a production platform in 468 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 397 in the Gulf of Mexico. Installation of the 600 ft Alabaster platform about 50 miles south of Grand Isle, off the coast of Louisiana, is the first step in Exxon's $500 million program to develop Alabaster and Zinc gas/condensate fields. Exxon set Alabaster's 4,850 ton jacket Sept. 5. A subsea pipeline will connect the Alabaster platform to Zinc field, 6 miles east-northeast in 1,500

Sept. 16, 1991

2 min read

Exxon Co. U.S.A. has installed a production platform in 468 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 397 in the Gulf of Mexico.

Installation of the 600 ft Alabaster platform about 50 miles south of Grand Isle, off the coast of Louisiana, is the first step in Exxon's $500 million program to develop Alabaster and Zinc gas/condensate fields. Exxon set Alabaster's 4,850 ton jacket Sept. 5.

A subsea pipeline will connect the Alabaster platform to Zinc field, 6 miles east-northeast in 1,500 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 354.

Zinc will be Exxon's first multiwell, subsea, satellite production system in the Gulf of Mexico to use deepwater technology that earned Exxon a distinguished achievement award at the 1980 Offshore Technology Conference. Zinc's subsea system will be set in 1992.

Production from Alabaster and Zinc fields to the host platform is expected to begin in 1992. Exxon predicts production during the 20 year life of the project will peak in 1995 at 115 MMcfd of gas and 2,500 b/d of condensate.

Through 1997, Exxon will drill 22 development wells in the two fields--16 in Alabaster with a rig mounted on the host platform and six in Zinc with a drillship. Depths will range from 7,000 to 15,000 ft.

Drilling of Alabaster wells is to begin by yearend.

Designed for diverless operation, the Zinc system will be the largest multiwell, subsea, satellite production system in the Gulf of Mexico, Exxon says. It will surpass the Lena guyed tower as Exxon's deepest water development in the gulf.

Exxon in 1983 installed the Lena tower in 1,000 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 280.