Deepwater

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s ability to synchronize its upstream spending with midstream solutions, thereby avoiding bottlenecks and gaining the best prices, proved a winning method in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, and it’s now being duplicated in the Permian Basin.

BP plc said Monday the Thunder Horse South Expansion project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has begun operations early, one year ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget, boosting output from the main platform by 50,000 boe/d gross.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s advantages in the Gulf of Mexico are stacking up, providing cash flow to fund a plethora of U.S. onshore opportunities, as the super independent eyes a stronger production growth rate over the next five years.

A unit of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd. is buying into some potential powerhouse deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets within the Mars-Ursa Basin owned by Royal Dutch Shell plc that could capture at least 100 million boe in recoverable reserves.

Australia’s BHP Billiton on Monday was named the first deepwater partner ever for Mexico’s state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), winning the right to jointly explore two blocks in the prolific Perdido Fold Belt. Mexico also awarded the rights to explore other Perdido and Salina del Istmo Basin blocks, which all together may hold total reserves of 10.6 billion boe.

BP plc on Thursday sanctioned a “leaner” $9 billion Mad Dog Phase 2 project for the Gulf of Mexico, which it said highlighted its long-term commitment to the country “despite the current low oil price environment.”

Global offshore oil production, including lease condensate and hydrocarbon natural gas liquids, last year reached its highest level in 16 years and accounted for almost 30% of worldwide output, with the United States one of the leaders, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The global oil supply is tightening, and markets should move closer to balance by the end of this year, but it’s too early for “any improvement in price” to affect exploration investments because operator confidence and balance sheets still need to be repaired, Schlumberger Ltd.’s operations chief said Tuesday.

Royal Dutch Shell plc agreed Monday to take $425 million from EnVen Energy Corp. for the Brutus platform and Glider production system in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).