As operator, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced first oil production at the Caesar/Tonga development in the Green Canyon portion of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Caesar/Tonga has an estimated resource base of 200 to 400 million BOE and production is expected to increase to about 45,000BOE per day from the first three subsea wells. Later in 2012, a fourth development well is expected to be drilled as part of the planned Phase I of the development.
The Caesar/Tonga development is utilizing Anadarko’s 100% operated Constitution spar floating production facility and has included the first application of steel lazy wave riser technology in the Gulf. The Constitution spar, which began production in 2006 with a capacity of 70,000bpd of oil and 200million cubic feet of natural gas per day, is located in Green Canyon Block 680 in about 5,000 feet of water. Modifications have been made to the topsides of the facility to accommodate production from the Caesar/Tonga area, 10 miles east of the spar.
The Caesar/Tonga development is operated by Anadark with a 33.75% working interest and co-owners include Shell Offshore Inc. with 22.45% working interest, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. with 20.25% working interest and Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC with 23.55% working interest.