The partners expect a waterflood project in the St. Malo field to contribute an estimated ultimate recovery of more than 175 million barrels of oil equivalent

Jack-St. Malo

Image: The St. Malo field is part of the Jack/St. Malo project. Photo: courtesy of Chevron Corporation.

Chevron and its partners have sanctioned a waterflood project in the US Gulf of Mexico with a goal to increase oil recovery from the St. Malo field, which has been in production since late 2014.

Located nearly 450.6km south of New Orleans in Louisiana, the St. Malo field is estimated to produce for another 30 years.

According to Chevron, the waterflood project is its first in the deepwater Wilcox trend. The project is likely to generate an estimated ultimate recovery of over 175 million barrels of oil equivalent, said the US oil and gas firm.

The oil recovery project will see drilling of two new production wells, three new injector wells, and installation of topsides injection equipment for the Jack/St. Malo floating production unit, which all are expected to prolong the life of the field.

Chevron North America exploration and production president Steve Green said: “The St. Malo field is a world-class asset that is positioned for highly economic brownfield development.

“With our leading technology, experienced workforce and broad portfolio, we’re delivering value in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Stakeholders in the St. Malo field

Through its subsidiaries – Chevron U.S.A. and Union Oil Company of California, Chevron has a 51% working interest in the St. Malo field. The company is partnered by MP Gulf of Mexico (25%), Equinor Gulf of Mexico (21.5%), Exxon Mobil (1.25%) and Eni Petroleum US (1.25%) in the offshore field.

MP Gulf of Mexico is in turn owned by Murphy Oil (80%) and Petrobras America (20%).

Equinor North America offshore portfolio senior vice president Chris Golden said: “We are pleased to announce this decision, which will further boost our production of high-value barrels from the Gulf of Mexico.”

The St. Malo field, which was discovered in 2003, is part of the Jack/St. Malo project in the Lower Tertiary trend of deepwater US Gulf of Mexico. The Jack and St. Malo fields are located within 40km of each other in nearly 2,100m of water in the Walker Ridge area.

The two fields were co-developed with subsea completions flowing back to a single host, semi-submersible floating production unit installed between them. The floating production unit has a production capacity of 170,000 barrels of oil per day and 42 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.