Houston-based companies Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and El Paso Energy Partners (EPN) have teamed up to jointly develop Anadarko’s Gulf of Mexico discovery, called Marco Polo, using a floating production platform capable of accommodating production from multiple fields. Marco Polo, discovered in the spring of 2000, is Anadarko’s first deepwater development project and is located on Green Canyon Block 608 about 150 miles offshore Louisiana.

“This is a significant development milestone for Anadarko,” said John Seitz, Anadarko COO. “This joint arrangement with El Paso Energy Partners allows us to move forward with development of Marco Polo quickly and create a production hub to which other nearby discoveries can be tied.” He said Anadarko also will benefit from El Paso’s experience in building deepwater platforms.

Anadarko, which has a 100% working interest, has drilled two wells and four sidetracks at the Marco Polo site. They encountered between 90 and 360 feet of net oil and gas pay. Recently, the company acquired the rights to explore and develop eight blocks in the Green Canyon area adjacent to the Marco Polo discovery, and now plans to drill up to five wells on the complex of 11 blocks next year.

Under the agreement, Anadarko and El Paso have formed an integrated project team and expect to start awarding pipeline and platform construction contracts immediately. The definitive agreements should be finalized in early 2002, and the companies expect to have the facilities completed and online in 2004.

The platform will be stationed in 4,300 feet of water and will function as a hub. El Paso will own the platform along with Cal Dive International Inc., and Anadarko woll be the operator. Production capacity will be 100,000 bbl/d and 250 MMcf/d. Under the agreement, Anadarko will have firm capacity of 50,000 bbl/d and 150 MMcf/d. The remainder of the platform capacity will be available to Anadarko for additional production and/or to third parties that have fields developed in the area.

Oil and gas processed on the platform will be transported through new gathering pipelines owned by El Paso to downstream markets. The oil will be transported through a new 34-mile, 14-inch pipeline, and El Paso’s Allegheny oil pipeline to its 50%-owned Ship Shoal 332 platform, where onshore markets can be accessed through El Paso’s 36%-owned Poseidon Oil Pipeline System. El Paso intends to build a gas pipeline from the Marco Polo platform to a downstream point to be determined by Anadarko.

Robert G. Phillips, CEO of El Paso Energy Partners, said, “This arrangement with Anadarko leverages our deepwater platform business that started with the deployment of EPN’s Prince Field tension leg platform, and extends our oil and gas pipeline infrastructure into deeper water in the Green Canyon area. We believe the installation of the platform and pipeline to serve Anadarko’s Marco Polo development will provide critical infrastructure and accelerate development of new oil and gas production in surrounding blocks in this active area of the deep water trend.”

Anadarko currently holds 109 deepwater leases in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is drilling several high potential deep water wildcat wells. Additionally, the company has a partnership with BP to explore 95 deepwater blocks held by BP in the Garden Banks and Keathley Canyon areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico.

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