Chevron Corp.’s Blind Faith project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has been delayed until the last half of the year because of a problem with the mooring lines. The project, which is expected to have production capacity of 45,000 MMcf/d of natural gas and 45,000 b/d of crude oil, had been scheduled to ramp up by the end of June.

The news about the semisubmersible facility came during a conference call by the management team Friday to discuss 1Q2008 earnings. Chevron, which has steadily increased its ownership in the facility, now has a 75% stake in Blind Faith; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is a 25% stakeholder (see Daily GPI, Oct. 11, 2005).

The facility is located in 7,000 feet of water about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans. Three development wells were drilled by the end last year, and a fourth well is scheduled to be drilled in 2009. According to Chevron, the topsides are designed to accommodate upgrades to capacities of 150,000 MMcf/d and 60,000 b/d from satellite discoveries or third-party tiebacks.

BP plc and BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Atlantis facility, which ramped up late last year in the deepwater GOM, also had suffered through several delays after problems were discovered in the moorings (see Daily GPI, Dec. 19, 2007). Problems discovered in the moorings of Thunder Horse, another BP-operated deepwater facility, have delayed that project’s operational start-up until later this year (see Daily GPI, April 18; Sept. 14, 2007). ExxonMobil Corp. owns a 25% stake in Thunder Horse.

Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil major in market value after ExxonMobil reported net profit of $5.17 billion ($2.48/share), up from $4.72 billion ($2.18) in 1Q2007. The results included $255 million in charges, compared with a $700 million gain in 1Q2007 from asset sales overseas. Upstream earnings jumped 76% to $5.13 billion from a year ago. Worldwide production fell slightly to 2.6 million boe/d, which was 44,000 boe/d lower than in 1Q2007.

In the United States, net natural gas sales averaged 8 Bcf/d, compared with 7.85 Bcf/d a year ago. Net U.S. gas production on average declined to 1.66 Bcf/d from 1.72 Bcf/d in 1Q2007. Worldwide gas production rose to 5.4 Bcf/d from 4.99 Bcf/d.

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