HOUSTON — Hess Corp. will move forward with plans to develop an oil and gas field in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico that’s expected to cost upwards of $6 billion, the company announced Tuesday.
The announcement comes at a time when many observers have questioned what sliding oil prices will mean for the future of the oil industry, and in particular, capital expenditure budgets in 2015.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the company will begin drilling wells for the project it’s dubbed the Stampede Field, with first production expected in 2018.
Hess, with a 25 percent working interest in the project, is the operator. Statoil, Nexen Petroleum Offshore and a Chevron subsidiary each have a 25 percent stake in the project, too.
The Stampede Field, located 115 miles south of the Louisiana Coast, is located in water 3,500 feet deep. The plans call for six subsea production wells and four water injection wells, which stimulate oil and gas production. The project would tie back to a production platform.
Hess has estimated that 300 million to 350 million barrels of oil equivalent can be recovered from the field, which was discovered in 2005.
And other oil companies continue exploring for offshore opportunities. Last week, Chevron and BP announced they made an oil discovery in one of the deepest regions the industry has taken on in the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s a look at some of the drillships used by Chevron:
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