On Wednesday, 6 May, StatoilHydro received first oil from the Chevron-operated Tahiti field in the US Gulf of Mexico. Tahiti is expected to produce 125,000 barrels of oil and two million cubic metres of natural gas a day, reaching plateau production later this year. With Tahiti on stream, StatoilHydro will more than double its production from the US Gulf of Mexico.
StatoilHydro's interest in the Tahiti field was acquired through the EnCana Gulf of Mexico acreage acquisition in 2005, with Tahiti being sanctioned later that year. The field is estimated to contain between 400 and 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. The field is developed with a floating spar platform producing from six subsea wells.
"I'm very proud to have been a part of the Tahiti development, together with Chevron. This is the deepest producing field in the Gulf of Mexico with the deepest well at 8,400 metres’ depths beneath more than 3,000 meters of salt," said StatoilHydro's Tahiti Asset Manager Randy Perry, who has worked with the project from the conceptual phase in 2003 to first oil.
Tahiti is located in Green Canyon blocks 596, 597, 640 and 641, approximately 305 km south of New Orleans. The field is in a Miocene play where the sands have good recovery rates.
StatoilHydro recently sanctioned the Caesar/Tonga development located close to the Tahiti field. The recent Heidelberg discovery is also located nearby. StatoilHydro holds a 25% working interest in the Tahiti field. Operator Chevron holds 58% andTotal 17%.