Chevron sanctions first lower tertiary deepwater project in Gulf of Mexico

Chevron has sanctioned development of the Jack/St. Malo project, its first operated project located in the Lower Tertiary trend in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

"Jack/St. Malo is the latest example of Chevron advancing its industry-leading queue of major capital projects," said George Kirkland, vice chairman, Chevron Corporation. "The Lower Tertiary is recognized as a huge resource with the potential for long life projects of up to 30 to 40 years and the opportunity to enhance recoveries through technology."

The Jack and St. Malo fields are located within 25 miles (40 km) of each other approximately 280 miles (450 km) south of New Orleans, Louisiana, in water depths of 7,000 feet (2,100 m). The initial development of the project will require an investment of approximately $7.5 billion. It will be comprised of three subsea centers tied back to a hub production facility with a capacity of 170,000 barrels of oil and 42.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Startup is anticipated in 2014.

The Jack and St. Malo fields are estimated to contain combined total recoverable resources in excess of 500 million oil-equivalent barrels. Seven exploration and appraisal wells have been successfully and safely drilled at these fields since 2003. Chevron, through its subsidiary Chevron U.S.A. Inc., has working interests of 50 percent in the Jack field, 51 percent in the St. Malo field, and 50.67 percent in the host facility.

Chevron is one of the top leaseholders in the Gulf of Mexico, averaging net daily production of 149,000 barrels of crude oil, 484 million cubic feet of natural gas and 14,000 barrels of natural gas liquids during 2009.