Hess and Partners Reach FID for Stampede Development

The 2009-built Stena Forth drillship at work in the Gulf of Mexico under contract to HESS working on the Pony Deepwater Discovery Project. (Gulf of Mexico, April 2010), image (c) Hess Corporation

Hess, along with their joint venture partners Union Oil (Chevron), Statoil and Nexen, all of which have a 25 percent working interest, have reached a final investment decision to proceed with the development of the Stampede Development in the Green Canyon sector of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The total project cost is expected to be approximately $6 billion and will be operated by Hess.

Hess notes the subsea development is located in approximately 3,500 feet of water and will be tied back to a newly constructed Tension Leg Platform with a capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day from six production wells.

Drilling is planned via two rigs will commence in the fourth quarter of 2015 with first production expected in 2018. Four injection wells will also be drilled.

“Moving forward on Stampede is another important milestone for Chevron in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, where we have a solid queue of major capital projects coming onstream, including Tubular Bells and Jack / St. Malo,” said Jay Johnson, senior vice president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation.

The Stampede field has total estimated recoverable resources in excess of 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Stampede project includes the joint development of the Knotty Head and the Pony discoveries, in Green Canyon blocks 511, 512, and 468. The blocks are located 220 miles southeast of New Orleans, LA. in 3,500 feet of water, and target lower Miocene reservoirs at a depth of approximately 30,000 feet. The Knotty Head field was discovered in 2005 and the Pony field was discovered in 2006.