Deepwater development in Gulf of Mexico starts production

The Independence Hub platform. (Photo: Janet Hughes)

(July 20, 2007) Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced today that first production from the record-setting Independence Hub project has started. Independence Hub is the deepest production platform ever installed and also is the world's largest offshore natural gas processing facility. Hydro has a 12.5 percent share in the ground-breaking project.

Natural gas production through the Hub began on July 19, 2007, from the first of 15 subsea wells located in 10 anchor fields. Located in 8,000 feet of water on Mississippi Canyon block 920, approximately 123 miles southeast of Biloxi, Miss., the Independence Hub is capable of delivering 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day to consumers, representing a 2 percent increase to the U.S. supply and a 10 percent increase in supply from the Gulf of Mexico.

Pete Stracke, Deepwater Development Manager for the project. (Photo: Janet Hughes)

The Independence Hub will initially connect 10 natural gas anchor fields for production, among them the Hydro discoveries Spider Man, Q and San Jacinto. The vast network of subsea flowlines linking the fields to the hub includes more than 200 miles of pipe and covers an area of about 1,800 square miles.

Teamwork ensured viability
A consortium of companies, including the The Atwater Valley Producers Group, consisting of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Devon Energy Corporation, Eni and Hydro, teamed up with the Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., in a unique cooperative project to develop the hub. Without this cooperation, these gas fields would not have been economically viable to develop individually and the natural gas finds would have been stranded.

“This is the shape of things to come – we are looking at the future of ultra-deepwater development," says Pete Stracke, Hydro’s Deepwater Development Manager since 2004 and responsible for the subsea portion of the project.

Record-breaking installation at extreme depths
The Independence Hub is a 105-foot, deep-draft, semi-submersible platform with a two-level production deck, and its installation and commissioning has been achieved on schedule and within budget. The facility, set in an ultra-deep area of the Gulf where previously there was no infrastructure, breaks several records, including the world’s deepest platform in approximately 8,000 feet of water, the deepest subsea production tree in 9,000 feet of water, and the world’s deepest export pipeline, originating in approximately 8,000 feet of water.

Ramping up production
The producers expect to ramp up production toward the Hub’s capacity of 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d) by late 2007. Three additional fields — the San Jacinto, Spiderman and “Q” fields, the latter of which Hydro is operator — will be connected to the facility at a later stage.

The platform is operated by Anadarko and owned 80 percent by Enterprise and 20 percent by Helix.Anadarko has reserved approximately 61 percent of the capacity on the Hub, Eni approximately 20 percent, Hydro 12.5 percent and Devon 6.5 percent.