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Marco Polo, Red Hawk on stream in deepwater Gulf Fields latest addition to Anadarko, Kerr-McGee’s growing positions Ray Tyson Petroleum News Houston Correspondent
First production has been launched from two fields in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, with Marco Polo eventually adding 50,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent to total U.S. Gulf output and Red Hawk 120 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Marco Polo, Anadarko Petroleum’s first deepwater discovery in the U.S. Gulf, is currently producing at a rate of 15,300 barrels of equivalent per day from three wells, Anadarko said July 19. The field is expected to reach a peak of 50,000 bpd after an additional three wells are brought on stream by early next year.
Houston-based independent Anadarko discovered Marco Polo at Green Canyon block 608 in April 2000. It will serve as a production hub for nearby Anadarko discoveries, including the K2 and K2 North fields, discovered in September 2002 and November 2003.
K2 and K2 North, on Green Canyon blocks 562 and 518, will be tied back to the Marco Polo platform and are expected to begin production in 2005. Anadarko holds a 52.5 percent working interest in the K2 field and 100 percent working interest in the K2 North field, as well as a 100 percent interest in the Marco Polo field.
Anadarko also operates the Marco Polo tension leg platform, which has a production capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day and 300 million cubic feet of gas per day. It is about 160 miles south of New Orleans in 4,300 feet of water and was installed in January 2004.
GulfTerra Energy Partners and marine construction company Cal Dive International actually own the Marco Polo platform. In addition to its 50 percent ownership in the Marco Polo platform, GulfTerra owns 100 percent of the export pipelines that gather the production processed on the platform and transports it to the downstream markets. Kerr-McGee has Red Hawk on production Meanwhile, Oklahoma-based independent Kerr-McGee announced that the Red Hawk field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico achieved first production on schedule using the world’s first cell spar facility.
Red Hawk, Kerr-McGee’s deepest development to date in 5,300 feet of water on Garden Banks 877, started production from the first of its two subsea wells just two months after sanctioning.
Production from Red Hawk, with an estimated resource base of about 250 billion cubic feet of natural gas, is expected to ramp up to a peak of 120 million cubic feet of natural gas per day in early August after the second well is placed on production, said Kerr-McGee, which operates Red Hawk with a 50 percent interest. Independent Devon Energy holds the remaining 50 percent interest.
The cell spar, a floating production facility, is the third generation of the spar systems, all of which were pioneered by Kerr-McGee. The technology was designed to further reduce the reserve threshold for economical development of deepwater fields.
Measuring 64 feet in diameter and 560 feet in length, the facility, named the Kerr-McGee Global Producer IX, can be expanded to handle 300 million cubic feet of natural gas production per day.
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