Located approximately 185km south of Fourchon, Louisiana, US, the Stampede field is estimated to hold recoverable resources in excess of 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The Stampede project involves joint development of the Knotty Head and the Pony discoveries which are located in Green Canyon blocks 511, 512, and 468. The Knotty Head and Pony were discovered in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Located 220 miles southeast of New Orleans in 3,500ft of water, the blocks target lower Miocene reservoirs at a depth of approximately 30,000ft.
As per the current development scope, the project production facilities will comprise six subsea production wells and four water injection wells which are tied back to a Tension Leg Platform (TLP).
The TLP will have a gross topsides processing capacity of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day, 40 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, and 100,000 barrels of water injection capacity per day.
CNOOC said that the three production wells have now been completed. Production is planned to be ramped up through 2018.
Hess is the operator of the Stampede field with 25% working interest while other project partners include Union Oil Company of California, a subsidiary of Chevron; Statoil and Nexen Petroleum Offshore, a unit of Cnooc, each holding 25% interest.
As part $2.1bn investment earmarked for exploration activities this year, Hess plans to invest $240m for continued development of the Stampede field.
Recently, CNOOC announced its plans to invest RMB70-80bn ($11.1-12.7bn) this year to target a production of 470-480 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).
The Chinese firm expects to see the commissioning of five new projects this year which also included the Stampede oil and gas field.
Image: An oil rig installed at an offshore field. Photo: courtesy of num_skyman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
