On Aug. 12, 2024, Chevron and its partner TotalEnergies brought the Anchor oil field onstream using 20K technology, which enables production in reservoirs at pressures of more than 20,000 pounds per square inch. Successful and safe deployment of 20K technology by Chevron, BP, Shell and others could unlock more than 2 billion barrels of previously inaccessible hydrocarbon reserves, setting new production records in the Gulf of Mexico. But it has been a long road to get here.
Gulf of Mexico Production Through the Years
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the United States started oil production in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in 1981 with 715,000 barrels per day and grew almost continuously for more than four decades (Figure 1). Oil production from the GOM represented 8.4 percent of the United States’ overall production in 1981 at 8.5 million barrels per day. It reached a record of 2 million barrels per day in 2019 and has remained relatively stable at around 1.8 million barrels per day during the past five years, representing 13-15 percent of the current national total.
Each year, natural decline from each field averages 4-6 percent. To prolong oil production in the GOM, companies need to tap into oil fields that were discovered years ago but were not brought to production, as they have reservoir pressure over 20,000 pounds per square inch. That’s where 20K technology comes in.
Chevron Leads the Way
Discovered in 2014, the Anchor Field in the GOM is located about 140 miles offshore Louisiana in the Green Canyon area, with a water depth of 5,000 feet. Chevron owns 63 percent of the Anchor Field, with partner TotalEnergies (37 percent). Chevron’s initial partners included Cobalt International Energy (20 percent), Samson Energy Co. (12.5 percent) and Venari Resources (12.5 percent). TotalEnergies joined the project in 2018 and became a key partner for 20K technology development and deployment. Chevron and TotalEnergies took the final investment decision for the $5.7 billion Anchor Field in 2019.
Chevron and TotalEnergies used Transocean’s new Deepwater Titan drilling rig – with 20,000 pounds per square inch of blowout preventers installed – specifically to drill and complete production wells in Anchor Field. Chevron contracted Subsea 7 to provide subsea installation services.
The Anchor Field is estimated to contain 440 million barrels of oil equivalent reserves. It will have a daily production capacity of 75,000 barrels of oil and 28 million cubic feet of gas. Chevron said that it will have around 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day net production from its operated and non-operated fields in the GOM by 2026, including the Anchor Field.
More 20K Projects in the Works
For more than a decade, oil companies, service companies and regulators have collaborated to bring 20K technology to fruition. BP signed a contract in 2012 for 20K technology development with FMC Technologies, now part of TechnipFMC.
BP is currently developing two fields, Kaskida and Tiber, using 20K technology. Discovered in 2006, Kaskida is in 6,000 feet of water depth in the Keathley Canyon area, about 250 miles offshore from Louisiana. The Kaskida Field holds around 275 million barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources in the Paleogene trend. The designed production capacity will be 80,000 barrels of oil per day and is scheduled to come onstream in 2029.
Final investment decision on the Tiber project is scheduled for mid-2025. The Tiber Field is located about 45 miles to the northwest of Kaskida in the Keathley Canyon area. Using five years as an approximation time from FID to first oil, Tiber will come onstream around 2030. These two fields, plus BP’s other holdings in the Paleogene trend, are estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil in place.
Shell, GOM’s leading producer with over 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, took FID in December 2023 to develop the Sparta Field, located at 4,700 feet of water depth and 170 miles offshore from Louisiana in the Garden Banks area. Sparta is estimated to hold 244 million barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources. Equinor sold a 51-percent stake in the Sparta Field to Shell in June 2022, as the latter took over operatorship. The Sparta project will have a capacity of 90,000 barrels of oil per day and is expected to come onstream in 2028.
Newly added production capacity by Chevron, BP and Shell from using 20K technology will reach more than 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day before 2030 and might help to set a new production record for the GOM. Independents, including Beacon Offshore Energy, will also amplify the industry’s breakthrough into 20K technology (see sidebar). Further development, appraisal and exploration in the Paleogene trend could uncover even more fields near these new facilities and in new areas, which, with maturation and safe deployment of new technology, could continue the GOM’s storied history.