Not literally at anchor as in moored, but rather Chevron struck oil
while drilling at the Anchor prospect in Green Canyon within the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico.
Utilizing Pacific Drilling’s dynamically-positioned drillship Pacific Santa Ana,
Chevron drilled over six miles into the earth to reach the Lower
Tertiary trend where the company says a “significant” oil discovery was
made. This discovery comes roughly five months after the well was
spudded-in last August.
“The Anchor discovery, along with the previously announced Guadalupe
discovery, are significant finds for us in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
We had one of our best years with the drill bit in 2014, reporting more
than 30 discoveries worldwide and adding an estimated one billion
barrels of new resources to our holdings,” said Jay Johnson, senior vice
president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation.
The Green Canyon Block 807 Well No. 2 is located approximately 140
miles (225 km) off the coast of Louisiana in 5,183 feet (1,580 m) of
water and was drilled to a total vertical depth of 33,749 feet (10,287
m). Chevron says appraisal drilling will begin this year.
“Chevron’s leading position in the Gulf, where we are expecting
further growth in the near-term from recent project startups at Jack/St.
Malo and Tubular Bells, is further underpinned by this discovery,” said
Jeff Shellebarger, president, Chevron North America Exploration and
Production Company. “We currently have five deepwater drillships
operating in the Gulf, two of which are focused on exploration
activities.”
Chevron subsidiary Chevron U.S.A. Inc. is the operator of the
field, with a 55 percent working interest in the Anchor prospect. Anchor
co-owners are Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (20 %), Samson Offshore
Anchor, LLC (12.5 %); and Venari Resources LLC (12.5 %).