Chevron Corp has approved $4 billion for its Big Foot project, in its second major Gulf of Mexico development in two months, even as tougher rules and higher costs loom for US deepwater operators. Royal Dutch Shell Plc gave the go-ahead in late September for a second deepwater production hub at its prolific Mars field in the Gulf, indicating the major oil companies will shoulder the extra cost to maintain production growth near one of the world's biggest oil markets.
"Sanctioning Big Foot underscores our commitment to the Gulf of Mexico and will contribute to future US energy supply," George Kirkland, vice chairman of Chevron, said in a statement on Thursday. Chevron, the second-largest US oil company behind Exxon Mobil Corp, has continued to invest in the Gulf even as uncertainty over new US regulations linger after the BP Plc oil spill disaster. Drilling permits remain hard to secure. Chevron said in October it planned to spend $7.5 billion at its Jack/St Malo project in the Gulf. Big Foot, located about 225 miles (360 km) south of New Orleans in water depths of 5,200 feet (1,600 m), is expected to have production capacity of 75,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Comments
Comments are closed.