Noble Energy's two long-awaited deepwater Gulf of Mexico fields came on stream ahead of schedule in late October and should reach peak in the next couple of weeks, the company's CEO said Monday.
The Dantzler and Big Bend fields, in water depths around 6,000 feet, are set to deliver over 45,000 b/d of oil equivalent gross combined at peak, and should produce at maximum of 25,000 boe/d and 20,000 boe/d, respectively, Dave Stover said during a quarterly earnings conference call.
"Big Bend already tested close to full rate over the weekend, and Dantzler should ramp up quickly as well," Stover said.
Noble will have a total 20,000 boe/d net from the field, which comprises part of the company's Rio Grande complex in the Gulf's Mississippi Canyon area offshore southeast Louisiana. The fields had been eyed for first production by year-end. They are producing into Murphy Oil's Thunder Hawk facility, with combined production of roughly 85% oil.
Another Mississippi Canyon well, Gunflint, is gearing up for first production in mid-2016, Stover said. Development drilling operations are finished and well completions underway, and installation of pipelines and subsea equipment has begun.
Noble's actual offshore exploration in 2016 is likely to be relatively low -- perhaps the same 5% of a capital budget that this year is below $3 billion -- and most of it likely to be sited in the Gulf of Mexico, he said.
But the company is looking to build its inventory to prepare for future drilling, Susan Cunningham, Noble's executive vice president of exploration and new ventures, said.
"This is a great time to be focused on getting the best-quality portfolio we can get," Cunningham said.
Noble did not participate in the most recent lease sales in the US Gulf of Mexico -- the Central Sale was held in March and the Western Sale was held in August, according to records from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the sale's sponsor.
The company did place 12 high bids in the 2014 Central Sale, mostly in Mississippi Canyon and ultra-deep and remote Lloyd Ridge and Henderson areas of the Gulf. Also, Noble placed five high bids in the 2013 Central Sale, all in the Atwater Valley immediately south of Mississippi Canyon.
Stover said he expected to increase Noble's exposure long-term to deepwater acreage. That is a contrary move to some large players such as ConocoPhillips, which expects to exit deepwater exploration over the next couple of years, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico.
"We've had an exploration team that's had a tremendous amount of success in the past," Stover said. "That creates opportunities ... it's something we'll continue to look at. I think you can do that in this environment at a relatively low cost versus what we've seen in the past few years."
Noble's total sales volumes grew to 379,000 boe/d in the third quarter, compared with 302,000 boe/d in the same period in 2014. In July, the company completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Rosetta Resources, which gave it US operations in Texas' Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale, the company said in a statement.
Crude and condensate volumes in Q3 grew to 110,000 b/d, compared with 96,000 b/d in the year-ago quarter, including US volumes of 83,000 b/d in Q3 and 67,000 b/d in Q3 2014. In its DJ Basin operation in Colorado, sales volumes averaged 116,000 boe/d in Q3, a record; this up 13% from Q3 2014. Crude and condensate made up half of total DJ volumes.
And in the Eagle Ford and Permian, production averaged 54,000 boe/d from the Rosetta acquisition's July 21 closing date to the end of Q3. Roughly 84% of volumes came from the Eagle Ford and the rest from the Permian. Liquids represented 63% of total volumes, including 29% crude oil and condensate.
