Crude oil and natural gas production has begun at the Jack/St. Malo project in the Lower Tertiary trend, deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Chevron Corp. said in a press release.

The Jack and St. Malo fields are among the largest in the GoM. They were discovered in 2004 and 2003, respectively, and production from the first development stage is expected to ramp up over the next several years to a total daily rate of 94,000 bbl of crude oil and 595 Mcm (21 MMcf) of natural gas. With a planned production life of more than 30 years, current technologies are anticipated to recover in excess of 500 MMboe. Successive development phases, which could employ enhanced recovery technologies, may enable substantially increased recovery at the fields.

The Jack and St. Malo fields are located within 40 km (25 miles) of each other in about 2,100 m (7,000 ft) of water in the Walker Ridge area, about 450 km (280 miles) south of New Orleans.

The fields were codeveloped with subsea completions flowing back to a single host, semisubmersible floating production unit located between the fields. The facility is the largest of its kind in the GoM and has a production capacity of 170,000 bbl/d of oil and 1.2 MMcm/d (42 MMcf/d) of natural gas, with the potential for future expansion.

Crude oil from the facility will be transported about 225 km (140 miles) to the Green Canyon 19 Platform via the Jack/St. Malo Oil Export Pipeline and then onto refineries along the Gulf Coast. The pipeline is the first large-diameter, ultra-deepwater pipeline in the Walker Ridge area of the Lower Tertiary trend. The combination of extreme water depths, large diameter, high-pressure design, and pipeline structures have set new milestones for the GoM.

Chevron, through its subsidiary, Chevron U.S.A. Inc., has a working interest of 50% in the Jack Field, with co-owners Statoil (25%) and Maersk Oil (25%). Chevron, through its subsidiaries, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Union Oil Company of California, also holds a 51% working interest in the St. Malo Field, with co-owners Petrobras (25%), Statoil (21.5%), ExxonMobil (1.25%) and Eni (1.25%); and a 40.6% ownership interest in the host facility, with co-owners Statoil (27.9%), Petrobras (15%), Maersk Oil (5%), ExxonMobil (10.75%) and Eni (0.75%).