Under new ownership structure, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips will combine expertise and resources to unlock Tiber and Gila discoveries and pursue development of a new production hub in Keathley Canyon (see map)
BP has announced it has formed a new ownership and operating model with Chevron and ConocoPhillips to focus on moving two significant BP Paleogene discoveries closer to development and provide expanded exploration access in the emerging geologic trend in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Under the agreements, BP will sell to Chevron approximately half of its current equity interests in the Gila and Tiber fields. BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips also have agreed to joint ownership interests in exploration blocks east of Gila known as Gibson, where they plan to drill in 2015.
As a result of the agreements, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips will have the same working interests across Gila and Gibson and any future centralized production facility. Chevron will hold equity interest of 36 percent, BP 34 percent and ConocoPhillips 30 percent. In Tiber, BP and Chevron will each hold equity interest of 31 percent, Petrobras 20 percent and ConocoPhillips 18 percent.
Chevron will operate Tiber, Gila and Gibson, building on its recent success in starting up the Jack/St. Malo oil production platform in the Paleogene/Lower Tertiary on time and on budget. Operatorship is expected to be transferred after BP finishes drilling appraisal wells at Gila and Tiber.
BP believes combining the technical strengths and financial resources of these three companies will provide greater efficiency through scale, reduce subsurface risk and increase the likelihood of achieving a future commercial development.
"Completing these agreements will enable BP to do three things that are at the core of our strategy in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico," said Richard Morrison, president of BP's Gulf of Mexico business. "It will support continued exploration and development in the Paleogene, which we expect to be a key part of our future in the region. It will allow us to manage and maintain capital discipline by sharing development costs. And transferring operatorship of these assets to Chevron will allow BP to increase our focus on maximizing production at our four existing producing hubs in the Gulf, each of which is still in the early stages of development."
BP discovered Tiber in 2009 and Gila in 2013, and in October 2014 participated as a co-owner in the Chevron-operated Guadalupe discovery.
BP believes that development of portions of the Paleogene trend will require next-generation tools and systems for operating in high-pressure, high-temperature reservoirs. BP continues to pursue development of these technologies through its Project 20KTM initiative, announced in 2012, and will work with co-owners to continue this progress.
Prior to the transactions, BP had a 62 percent working interest in Tiber, with Petrobras owning 20 percent and ConocoPhillips 18 percent. In Gila, BP previously had a 65 percent working interest and ConocoPhillips 35 percent. In Gibson, ownership in the six- lease area varied based on lease, with Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips all holding stakes.
BP operates four large production platforms in the deepwater Gulf – Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog and Na Kika – and holds interest in four non-operated hubs known as Ursa, Great White, Mars and Mars B.
BP is the largest investor and leaseholder in the Gulf of Mexico and a leading oil and gas producer in the region.
Since early 2013, BP has had four major project start-ups in the deepwater Gulf: Atlantis North, Mars B (operated by Shell), Na Kika Phase 3 and Atlantis North Expansion Phase 2.
