Chevron begins a key oil project in the Gulf of America

Chevron Corporation has announced the start of oil and natural gas production from the Ballymore subsea development in the deep waters of the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico). This the latest in a series of projects the company has launched since last year.

Chevron's goal is to produce 300,000 net barrels per day of oil equivalent in the Gulf by 2026. The Ballymore project is expected to produce up to 75,000 gross barrels of oil per day through three wells connected within three miles of the existing Blind Faith platform operated by the multinational energy company.

"Ballymore is an example of how we are leveraging technology and driving efficiency to produce affordable, reliable energy in the deepwater Gulf of America, one of the world's least carbon-intensive oil and gas producing basins," said Brent Gros, Chevron vice president.

Located in the Mississippi Canyon area, Ballymore is about 2000 m (6600 ft) deep, about 260 km (160 miles) southeast of New Orleans. The new link will become operational and profitable without the need to build a new platform, and will rely on others that are already in action.

Chevron is a leading lessee in the Gulf and continues to actively pursue growth opportunities in the basin. As of mid-2024, it started production at its industry-first Anchor project and non-operated Whale project, and initiated water injection to boost production at its operated Tahiti and Jack/St. Malo facilities.

Currently, oil from the Gulf of America accounts for one in six barrels of domestic oil production. It is estimated that Ballymore will be able to recover 150 million barrels of gross oil equivalent during the project's execution.

This major announcement comes on the heels of other major milestones highlighted by Chevron since President Donald Trump, who ran on a platform that included U.S. energy dominance, won the presidential election. In November, Chevron announced that its Tahiti field produced its 500 million equivalent barrel of oil.