El Paso Energy Partners LP (EPN) said Tuesday that it has started up operations at its Falcon Nest Platform at Mustang Island Block A103, located in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The platform is currently processing approximately 185 MMcf and 650 bbl of condensate per day from two wells in the Falcon Field.

The Pioneer Natural Resources-owned and operated Falcon Field is located approximately 32 miles southeast of the platform in East Breaks Blocks 579, 580 and 623 in a water depth of 3,400 feet. EPN said the platform’s start-up comes approximately 11 months from contract award and one month ahead of schedule.

EPN announcement comes a day after Pioneer CEO Scott D. Sheffield reported that the Falcon field had begun production (see Daily GPI, April 1). He added that the start-up was the second of five major projects the company expects to bring online by early 2004.

EPN constructed, installed, owns and operates the Falcon Nest Platform, a new production hub, and the Falcon Gas Pipeline. The platform was installed in 390 feet of water with an initial design capacity of 400 MMcf/d. The Falcon Gas Pipeline consists of approximately 14 miles of 18-inch pipeline, which connects the platform to the Central Texas Gathering System offshore Texas.

“We are extremely pleased to have assisted Pioneer in bringing their Falcon discovery into production a month ahead of schedule,” said Robert G. Phillips, CEO of El Paso Energy Partners. “In addition, we size our platforms and pipelines to handle additional production, which encourages drilling for future area discoveries in these frontier areas.”

Pioneer also announced Monday that it has approved the development of the Harrier discovery as a single well subsea tie-back to the Falcon Field facilities. Pioneer said it will install an additional parallel flowline connecting the Falcon Field to the Falcon Nest Platform, doubling the flowline capacity to 400 MMcf/d. Pioneer expects first gas from the Harrier field within nine months with combined production from Falcon and Harrier expected to reach 275 MMcf/d, which will be processed on the Falcon Nest Platform and gathered through the Falcon Gas Pipeline. Pioneer said the Harrier field has estimated gas reserves of 55 to 80 Bcf.

In addition to the Falcon Nest Platform, EPN said it is also working on other deepwater projects including: the Marco Polo Platform, which it is building through a joint-venture agreement with Cal Dive International for Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Marco Polo Field; its 100% owned Marco Polo oil and natural gas pipelines; the 380-mile Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System; and the 86-mile Phoenix natural gas gathering system for Red Hawk field producers Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp. and Ocean Energy Inc.

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