American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2019 - 113

SpecialReport: Offshore & Subsea Update
scheduled to commence production this summer, according to
Fowler. Located in 6,800 feet of water at Keathley Canyon
blocks 785, 828, 829, 830, 871 and 872, the initial development
phase at Buckskin includes two wells drilled to ±29,000 feet
TD and tied back six miles to the Anadarko Petroleum Corp.owned Lucius spar platform at Keathley Canyon 875. Fowler
says LLOG estimates that the hydrocarbon column height at
Buckskin could exceed 2,000 feet gross.
In announcing the new agreement with Repsol, Philip
LeJeune, LLOG's president and chief executive officer, noted
that Leon and Moccasin both target the same Lower Tertiary
formation in which the two Buckskin wells were being completed.
"We have worked well together at Buckskin and the delineation
of the potentially significant discoveries at Leon and Moccasin
is another perfect match for the deepwater technical knowledge
and development expertise that both our companies possess,"
he comments. "For LLOG, 2019 is a truly exciting year as we
pursue a number of significant deepwater projects."
Subsea Tiebacks
Even so, 2018 will be remembered forever as a banner year
for LLOG. Consider that nine new fields commenced production
in the deepwater Gulf last year. Five of them were operated by
one company: LLOG. Moreover, all five fields had been
discovered within 24-36 months of first oil. LaFemme, Blue
Wing Olive and Red Zinger were discovered in 2016, and Claiborne and Crown & Anchor were discovered in 2015 (LLOG
retained its interest in all five fields after the property transaction
with Murphy Oil). In total, the company brought eight wells on
line last year in the five new fields-all of them subsea tiebacks
to existing platforms, namely Delta House.
In addition to the initial Stonefly and Buckskin wells, Fowler
says LLOG also plans to bring four development wells at
existing fields on line in 2019. Again, all the wells are subsea
tiebacks to existing LLOG- and third party-operated platforms,
which reduces project break-even costs, he explains.
"We have a long history with subsea tiebacks, dating back to
our first deepwater completion in 2008. Even our Who Dat and
Delta House production facilities were installed as hubs with
the capability to tie in production from other nearby fields,"
Fowler says. "Tiebacks help give us a lower reserves threshold
to allow LLOG to pursue smaller and often lower-risk prospects.
These prospects are often passed over by major operators that
need larger prospects to meet their materiality thresholds."
In addition, tying production to the LLOG-owned Who Dat
and Delta House floating production systems (stationed in Mississippi Canyon 547 and 254, respectively) has positive impacts,
since existing production receives a reduced share of the fixed
lease LLOG operating expense, Fowler goes on.
The general interest economic impact is consistent with
LLOG's Delta House facility, where the production handling
agreement was set up to provide below-market handling fees

Of the nine new fields that commenced production in the deepwater Gulf in 2018, five of them are operated by LLOG Exploration. All five fields-LaFemme, Blue Wing Olive, Red Zinger,
Claiborne and Crown & Anchor-achieved first oil within 24-36
months of being discovered. The eight wells brought on line in
the five new fields were all subsea tiebacks to existing platforms,
including LLOG-owned and third party-owned facilities.

for future LLOG tiebacks, Fowler says. "Subsea tiebacks
have reduced cycle times of 12-18 months, compared with
three-four years for a project with a new floating production
system," he notes.
Standardized Design
All five fields that came on line in 2018 also are consistent
with LLOG's subsea standardization philosophy, which includes
an agreement with its subsea equipment alliance partner covering
flowlines (either single or looped), umbilicals, trees, manifolds
and multiphase flowmeters, Fowler details.
The Claiborne Field in Mississippi Canyon 794, which
LLOG discovered in 2015 and successfully appraised in late
2016, is the first project on which LLOG has used equipment
rated to 15,000 psi, he reveals. Both the discovery and appraisal
wells are tied back to the Walter Oil & Gas-operated Coelacanth
platform in Ewing Bank 834.
"Because of our standardized system design, we can quickly
design safe and economic subsea systems using our standardized
equipment, even in the case of a higher-pressure development
like Claiborne," Fowler says.
While many companies typically enter a pre-front end engineering and design (FEED) phase followed by the FEED phase
itself to design each project, LLOG generally can order longlead time equipment immediately following a discovery, he
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2019

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