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ChevronTexaco unveils ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico prospects, wants partner Potential reserves total 1.3 billion barrels at Toledo, Bonanza prospects; accumulations at depths of 10,000 feet and 8,700 feet Petroleum News Alaska Houston Office
ChevronTexaco, on a roll with two sizeable Gulf of Mexico discoveries in the past year, has unveiled a pair of ultra-deepwater Gulf prospects with 1.3 billion barrels of potential reserves.
The least risky of the prospects could be Toledo, which the company says is situated in the developing Perdido Fan Belt play, just 10 miles east of Unocal's big Trident discovery in the Alaminos Canyon region of the Western Gulf.
Toledo, located in about 10,000 feet of water, is estimated to hold 400 to 500 million barrels of oil, the company said, adding that it is hoping to spud a first exploration well in the third or fourth quarter of 2003.
ChevronTexaco believes its Bonanza prospect, in 8,700 feet of water, could contain 800 million barrels of oil equivalent. But the prospect is located in an area of the Gulf (Keathley Canyon) where explorers have come up short on discoveries.
Because of the remote location of both prospects, ChevronTexaco said partners are being sought to help pay for the high expense of initial exploration wells — an estimated $34 million for Toledo and $26 million for Bonanza.
ChevronTexaco said it would sell up to 50 percent of its 100 percent interest in Toledo and up to 50 percent of its 62.3 percent interest in Bonanza.
Tanker transport an option With Toledo and Bonanza located several hundred miles from the Gulf Coast and well out of reach of pipeline systems, transporting oil to shore by tanker remains an option in the event of a commercial discovery, the company said.
ChevronTexaco had a string of deepwater Gulf successes in 2002, most notably Tahiti and its preliminary 400 to 500 million barrels in estimated reserves, ranking it among the biggest-ever discoveries in the Gulf. Located in Green Canyon at a water depth of more than 4,000 feet, Tahiti is 58 percent owned by ChevronTexaco, 25 percent by EnCana and 17 percent by Shell.
A second discovery, dubbed Great White, is located in Alaminos Canyon just 10 miles west of Unocal's Trident find and a little over 20 miles west of ChevronTexaco Toledo prospect.
ChevronTexaco and joint venture partners BP and Shell said they were “encouraged” by results from the Great White discovery well, but provided no reserve estimates. Delineation drilling will be required to determine the extent of the discovery, the partners said.
Nevertheless, the Tahiti and Great White discoveries “demonstrate the great potential in deepwater Gulf of Mexico and the progress we have made in our deepwater program,” said Ray Wilcox, president of ChevronTexaco North America Upstream.
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