Chevron's High-Pressure Tech Opens Billions More Barrels to Production

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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) on Monday announced that new technology capable of handling up to 20,000 psi has achieved first oil at its Green Canyon-area field, with approximately 440,000 barrels (bbls) of recoverable oil. With 55% ownership, Chevron is the operator of this joint venture with TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) (Courbevoie, France).

Industrial Info has been tracking this project since it received its final investment decision (FID) in the second quarter of 2019. Chevron made the initial Anchor discovery in 2014.

Previous offshore technology was limited to 15,000 psi, making many high-pressure fields off limits. The 20,000-psi technology opens the door for producing from those fields. The new system, called Anchor, is a semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU), designed with production capacity of 75,000 barrels per day of oil and 28 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Seven subsea wells will tie into the Anchor FPU. Green Canyon is about 140 miles off the Louisiana coast, at a water depth of 5,000 feet.

"The 75,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) are 4% of the 1.7 million BBL/d produced in the Gulf," said Jesus Davis, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Oil & Gas industry. "That is peak production, so it will decline significantly over the first two years or so. But Chevron expects the well to remain commercially viable for a long time--around 30 years."

While 4% is not overwhelming, it's the future Davis is excited about: "What is really significant about Anchor is that the equipment and technology used there will open up access to other developments that had not previously been producible."

The gas production, at 28 million cubic feet per day, will account for 1.4% of the Gulf of Mexico's (GOM) almost 2 billion cubic feet per day, said Industrial Info's Maria Sanchez.

Anchor is Chevron's sixth operated facility currently producing in the GOM. Overall, the company expects its operated and non-operated facilities will produce a combined 300,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2026.

More On the Way
Other producers, including U.S.-based Beacon Offshore Energy LLC (Houston, Texas) and international firm BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London, England) are preparing to access 20,000-psi fields. Beacon's Shenandoah Field, also offshore from Louisiana, has been delayed, with first oil expected in second-quarter 2025. The project is owned by Beacon Offshore Energy Operating, BOE II Exploration, BOE II Shen and Navitas Petroleum, with the latter owning 49%.

Field water depths range from 5,900 to 6,300 feet. Shenandoah's previous owner, LLOG, had estimated the field's reserves at 280 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Beacon's Shenandoah FPS is a 120,000-BBL/d system. They expect the unit to be shipped from the HD-Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard in South Korea by late December 2024. Production will involve the drilling of approximately eight wells.

BP was the first to discover a 20,000-psi field, named Kaskida, in 2006, which at that time was unproduceable. In July 2024, BP announced it had developed new high-pressure technology and was ready to use that in moving forward with developing Kaskida. First oil there is currently expected in 2029.

Fully owned by BP, the company estimates the field's discovered recoverable resources to be about 275 million barrels of oil equivalent in the initial phase. The drilling of additional wells in future phases could change the numbers, the company said. Kaskida is BP's sixth operated facility in the GOM, the same number as for Chevron.

IIR Energy sees Anchor and the others as opening the doors to what some have estimated would be about 2 billion barrels of oil-equivalent from high-pressure formations. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Project Database can click here for a list of detailed reports on related projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).