Two oil majors, U.S.-based Chevron and France-headquartered TotalEnergies, have brought online a deepwater oil and natural gas project in the Gulf of America, formerly the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Both players have confirmed the start-up of oil and gas production from the Ballymore subsea tie-back in the Gulf of America, which represents another step toward Chevron’s goal to produce 300,000 net barrels per day of oil equivalent from the Gulf in 2026.
This development is anticipated to produce up to 75,000 gross barrels of oil per day and 50 million cubic feet of gas a day through three wells tied back three miles to the U.S. player’s operated Blind Faith floating production unit (FPU).
Brent Gros , Vice President of Chevron Gulf of America, commented: “Ballymore is an example of how we are leveraging technology and driving efficiencies to help produce affordable, reliable energy from the deepwater Gulf of America, one of the lowest carbon intensity oil and gas producing basins in the world.
“Ballymore, which was completed on time and on budget, brings additional production online without building a new standalone offshore platform. This reduces our development costs and is expected to drive higher returns for shareholders.”
Chevron’s hydrocarbon output has increased since mid-year 2024, thanks to multiple projects that are now on stream, including its operated Anchor project and non-operated Whale , alongside water injection start-up to boost output at its operated Tahiti and Jack/St. Malo facilities.
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Containing estimated potentially recoverable resources of 150 million barrels of oil equivalent gross over the life of the project, Ballymore is located in the Mississippi Canyon area in around 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) of water, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans.
This development is said to be the U.S. giant’s first in the Norphlet trend of the Gulf. While the firm’s subsidiary, Chevron U.S.A., is the operator of the project with a 60% working interest, TotalEnergies is the company’s partner with a 40% working interest.
Situated 120 kilometers off the Louisiana coast and green-lighted in May 2022, the Ballymore project is perceived to utilize existing infrastructure as well as standardized equipment to ensure lower development costs and lower emission intensity.
Nicolas Terraz , President of Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, highlighted: “The start-up of Ballymore will increase TotalEnergies’ production capacity in U.S. deepwater to more than 75,000 boe/d and contribute to the Company’s targeted hydrocarbon production growth of over 3% in 2025.
“The United States is a major market for the deployment of our integrated energy model, which combines low breakeven and low emissions oil and gas projects with LNG and integrated power developments.”
The beginning of hydrocarbon production at Ballymore comes shortly after Chevron, together with BP as the operator, made an oil discovery in the Gulf of America.