The agreement between the two parties covers 16 deepwater blocks and is spread across two promising plays and areas. One of them is Wilcox located next to the Anchor discovery in Central (GoM) while the other is Norphlet contained close to the Appomattox discovery in Eastern (GoM).
Total says that its participating stakes in the wells will be in the 25-40% range. Drilling at the first well started late July on the Ballymore prospect located in Mississippi Canyon.
Total exploration & production president Arnaud Breuillac said: “This agreement, together with the recently announced participation in the Jack field as part of the Maersk Oil acquisition, increases Total’s footprint in the USA GoM where it can apply its exploration expertise and deepwater technologies.
“Total values Chevron’s performance as a GoM deepwater company and this agreement expands a successful co-ownership already in place on the Tahiti field.
“As a continued effort to highgrade its portfolio, Total won six offshore exploration licenses in the August Lease Sale.”
In Gulf of Mexico, Total has participating stakes in Tahiti field with 17%, in Chinook field with 33.33% and in North Platte with 40%.
While Tahiti is operated by Chevron, Chinook is operated by Petrobras. North Platte on the other hand is operated by Cobalt International.
Total is also slated to get a stake of 25% in the Jack field operated by Chevron as a result of its $7.45bn acquisition of Maersk Oil which is anticipated to be closed in the first quarter of 2018.
When it comes to onshore activities, Total is the 100% owner and operator of the Barnett field besides having a 25% participating stake in the Utica field.
Image: Total will partner Chevron in offshore exploration in Gulf of Mexico. Photo: courtesy of num_skyman/Freedigitalphotos.
