Lloyds List: Busy time for Andarko in US Gulf exploration

Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Aug 07, 2007

ANADARKO Petroleum is exploring and developing satellite fields around its spar production platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The US oil company is drilling around the Boonvang, Nansen and Constitution spar platforms, using Diamond Offshore’s semi-submersible rigs in order to keep throughput at plateau levels.

These projects are in water depths of between 1,000 and 1,200 m off the coast of Corpus Christi, Texas, so more subsea wells and flowlines will be required to tie back new fields to the floating spar platforms.

Anadarko is using the Ocean Valiant rig in the East Breaks area of the Gulf of Mexico to develop the Northwest Nansen discovery and will soon begin installing the subsea systems.

‘Development of the Northwest Nansen discovery is under way,’ said an Anadarko spokesman.

‘This four well subsea tie back to the Nansen spar is expected to begin production in late 2007′

Anadarko has just used Diamond’s rig Ocean Star to drill two successful exploration wells around the Boomvang spar platform, also in the East Breaks area.

It is likely the oil company will tie back the EB 598 and EB 599 discoveries, northwest of Boomvang, to the floating production platform later this year or early next.

Ocean Star will soon be moved to drill and complete another production well on the Ticonderoga field in Green Canyon block 768.

The field is a satellite to the Constitution spar platform, which is in block GC 680 off the Louisiana coast.

Anadarko is likely to use the Ocean Star after this to drill an exploration well in the East Boomvang area on block EB 688 in the fourth quarter of this year.

On the company’s K2 project in the central Green Canyon area it is considering the use of enhanced oil recovery techniques including injection of nitrogen to increase production.

Fred Olsen’s drillship Belford Dolphin will be employed in the fourth quarter to drill another delineation well on K2 to find new reserves in the field, which is tied back to the Marco Polo tension-leg platform.

In slightly shallower water depths in the Garden Banks area, Anadarko is involved in three satellite projects to the Baldpate production platform, which is a compliant tower in block GB 260.

Anadarko is participating in US group Hess’ Conger and Penn State projects, where development drilling is under way on each.

Anadarko and partners Newfield Exploration and Woodside are also advancing development plans for the Power Play field as a subsea satellite to Baldpate.

‘On Power Play well completion operations are scheduled for the fourth quarter with first production in 2008,’ said the Anadarko spokesman.

On the exploration side of its business, the Houston company is at present drilling a well on the West Tonga prospect in the Caesar-Tonga area of Green Canyon.

This lies to the east of the Constitution spar and southwest of Chevron’s delayed Tahiti project.

Statoil, Chevron and Shell are the other partners in this well.

Anadarko is also a partner in BP’s Cortez Bank exploration well in Keathley Canyon block 244.

This is 12 miles west of BP’s large ultra-deepwater Kaskida oil discovery last year so there is potential for another discovery.

Also this quarter Anadarko plans to start an exploration well on the Atlas prospect in Walker Ridge block 155 and in the fourth quarter it could be part of Statoil’s Green Bay wildcat well, also in the Walker Ridge area.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.