Offshore staff
(GoM) - Chevron Corp. has begun construction of the floating production facility to be installed in the Tahiti field, which is expected to achieve first production by mid-2008. The field, located in the deepwater GoM approximately 190 miles south of New Orleans, will be developed from two subsea drill centers producing to a floating production facility supported by a truss spar.
Tahiti is designed to have a production capacity of 125,000 b/d of crude oil and 70 MMcf/d of natural gas and will be developed in phases.
The first phase of development was fully sanctioned in August 2005 by Tahiti joint venture partners Chevron, Statoil and Shell at a cost of more than $1.8 billion. Total capital costs for the project are anticipated to be approximately $3.5 billion. Chevron, the operator, holds a 58% working interest. Statoil holds a 25% interest, and Shell holds a 17% interest.
"Tahiti is one of Chevron's top five projects, and it demonstrates our focus on investing in the development of world class energy supplies," says George Kirkland, Chevron Corp.'s executive vice president, Upstream and Gas. "It is an example of our ability to advance significant capital projects in areas where we are well positioned for future growth."
Adds Ray Wilcox, Chevron's North America Exploration and Production Co. president, "This project is a key asset in our expanding deepwater portfolio and is expected to add significant new crude oil and natural gas resources in the Gulf of Mexico."
Fabrication of the Tahiti hull and mooring systems is being performed by Technip at its yard in Pori, Finland. A construction milestone for the project was achieved with the first cutting of steel for the hull on October 16, one day ahead of schedule.
Two days later on October 18, and one month ahead of schedule, steel cutting began for the topsides facility modules that are being fabricated by Technip subsidiary Gulf Marine Fabricators at its yard near Corpus Christi, Texas. The spar hull is expected to be delivered to the GoM by mid-2007, with topsides fabrication planned to be completed in that same time frame.
The Tahiti truss spar floating production facility is located in approximately 4,000 ft of water in the GoM about 190 miles southwest of New Orleans in Green Canyon 640, 641, 596 and 597.
Chevron selected Mustang Engineering, a subsidiary of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC, to perform engineering, procurement and project management support services for the Tahiti topsides oil and gas processing facilities.
Mustang recently completed the front-end engineering and design for the Tahiti topsides facilities.
One of the Gulf's largest deepwater discoveries, the Tahiti field is in 4,000 ft of water and is believed to hold 400 MMboe to 500 MMboe that are potentially recoverable.
11/08/05
