Chevron has begun waterflood operations at its Jack/St. Malo and Tahiti deepwater projects in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the company announced on Tuesday. The move is part of Chevron's strategy to boost oil and gas recovery and achieve a production target of 300,000 BOE/D in the GOM by 2026.
The announcement comes about 3 weeks after Chevron achieved first oil at its Anchor facility that has a nameplate capacity of 75,000 B/D.
The US supermajor said the water injections at the Jack/St. Malo facility marks the first time the company has deployed the secondary recovery technique in the high-pressure Lower Tertiary Wilcox reservoir. The project’s two new injection wells and two additional production wells are in the St. Malo field where they are expected to increase estimated ultimate recovery by 175 million BOE.
The facility, located about 280 miles south of New Orleans in 7,000 ft of water, has produced nearly 400 million BOE since starting production in 2014.
The Tahiti facility, located around 190 miles south of New Orleans in 4,100 ft of water, has seen its first wells converted from producers to injectors. Chevron added a water- injection manifold and 20,000 ft of flexible flowline to support the operation. The field has produced 500 million BOE since its commissioning in 2009.
Chevron holds a 51% stake in Jack/St. Malo, with partners including MP Gulf of Mexico (25%), Equinor (21.5%), ExxonMobil (1.25%), and Eni (1.25%). Chevron also operates the Tahiti facility with a 58% interest, alongside Equinor (25%) and TotalEnergies (17%).
