Chevron and TotalEnergies have sanctioned the Ballymore project in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico, involving an investment of around $1.6bn.
Discovered in 2018, the field will be developed by drilling three production wells. These will be tied back to the existing Chevron-operated Blind Faith platform through a 4.8km long flowline.
First oil from the Ballymore project is expected to be drawn in 2025.
According to Chevron, oil and natural gas produced from the project will be transported by using the existing infrastructure.
Chevron North America exploration and production president Steve Green said: “Chevron’s U.S. Gulf of Mexico production is some of the lowest carbon intensity production in our portfolio at around 6 kg CO2 equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent and is a fraction of the global industry average.
“Once complete, Ballymore is expected to add a reliable supply of U.S. produced energy to help meet global demand. The project is designed to lower development costs by using a subsea tieback approach, standardised equipment and repeatable engineering solutions – leveraging existing operated infrastructure.”
Ballymore marks the maiden development for Chevron in the Norphlet trend of the US Gulf of Mexico.
The field is located in the Mississippi Canyon area in a water depth of around 6,600ft, and nearly 260km southeast of New Orleans.
Chevron stated that more than 150 million barrels of oil-equivalent resources can be potentially recovered from the Ballymore field.
Through its subsidiary Chevron U.S.A., the company has an operating stake of 60% in the Ballymore project. TotalEnergies holds the remaining 40% stake through its subsidiary TotalEnergies E&P USA.
TotalEnergies exploration and production senior vice president Americas David Mendelson said: “Sanctioning the Ballymore field development, only four years after the discovery, is the result of our exploration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Thanks to its tie-back development concept, this decision fits TotalEnergies’ strategy of focusing on oil projects with low breakeven and low emissions.”
