Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has closed the acquisition of Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas’ deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets. The transaction is effective Aug. 1, 2016.
The company said that one of the main benefits of the acquisition is that it doubles its ownership in theLucius development to about 49%. It also is said to double its GoM production to more than 160,000 net boe/d. It will also add three operated deepwater facilities to the company’s portfolio, bringing its total operated facilities to 10.
Chairman, President and CEO Al Walker said: “As a result of closing this transaction, Anadarko now operates the largest number of floating production facilities in thedeepwater Gulf of Mexico, which provides a competitive advantage to leverage this infrastructure into attractive new investment opportunities. This region continues to play a key role in our portfolio by contributing to our higher-margin oil growth profile…
“The expanded portfolio of deepwater facilities provides numerous hub-and-spoke opportunities that can generate rates of return of better than 50% at today’s prices. Given our industry-leading capabilities in deepwater project management, production solutions and exploration success, adding these high-quality assets greatly improves our ability to deliver strong performance in a volatile commodity environment.”
In addition, the company provided an update on its deepwater drilling activities in theGulf of Mexico, highlighted by successes at Warrior and Phobos, which add to its inventory of future tieback opportunities, as well as a successful development well in the Heidelberg field.
The Warrior exploration well encountered more than 210 net ft (64 m) of oil pay in multiple high-quality Miocene-aged reservoirs. The Warrior discovery is about 3 mi (just under 5 km) from the Anadarko-operated K2 field and is expected to be tied back to its Marco Polo production facility. Anadarko is the operator at Warrior with a 65% working interest. Other partners include Ecopetrol (20%) and Mitsubishi Corp. Exploration Co. Ltd. (15%).
At the Phobos appraisal well, which is located approximately 12 mi (19 km) south of the Anadarko-operated Lucius facility, has encountered more than 90 net ft (27 m) of high-quality oil pay in a Pliocene-aged reservoir similar to the nearby Lucius field. This secondary accumulation was present in thePhobos discovery well and will be evaluated for tieback to the Lucius facility. Meanwhile, drilling is ongoing toward the primary objective in the Wilcox formation. Anadarko has a 100% working interest at Phobos.
At theHeidelberg field, the fifth production well currently being drilled has encountered the reservoir sand with more than 150 net ft (46 m) of oil pay to date. The well will be completed immediately following drilling operations and is expected to be brought on production early next year.
12/16/2016
