Bulleit Oil and Gas Field, Gulf of Mexico

Bulleit oil and gas field is located at a water depth of approximately 1,200m in the Green Canyon Block 21 (GC 21) in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The field is jointly owned by Talos Energy (operator, 50% interest), EnVen Energy Ventures (33.33%) and Otto Energy (16.67%). Otto Energy acquired its interest in the field under a joint venture agreement with Talos in March 2019, which required the company to fund 22.22% of the total cost of drilling the Bulleit appraisal well.

The field began production in October 2020 and currently produces 500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 3.5 million metric standard cubic feet per day (Mmscfd) of natural gas.

Bulleit field faced multiple delays in reaching a stable rate of production after commencement due to Hurricane Zeta and Covid-19.

Bulleit field geology and reserves

Bulleit field is an amplitude-supported discovery in Pliocene-era sand structures with seismic attributes similar to those of the Green Canyon 18 (GC18) field sand structures. The gross prospective resources of the field are estimated to be 14.5 million metric barrels of oil-equivalent (Mmboe).

Talos estimates the gross prospective resources to be between 10Mmboe and 30Mmboe on an unrisked basis.

Bulleit field appraisal details

The Bulleit appraisal well was drilled using the Noble Don Taylor drillship in May 2019, which encountered high-quality oil-bearing reservoir at different intervals.

The well was spudded to a total vertical depth of approximately 8,700ft at which it encountered a high-quality, 31° API net oil pay of 140ft in the shallower DTR-10 oil sand target that was first discovered in 1984.

Between 1984 and 1987, three wells were drilled in the DTR-10 oil sand, all of which encountered oil pay within the DTR-10 sand package. The additional proven reserves in the DTR-10 oil sand can also be produced from the existing wellbore. DTR 10 sand holds approximately 70% of the total proven reserves in the Bulleit field.

Further, the appraisal well was drilled deeper to a total vertical depth of approximately 12,800ft in the MP sand to intersect a high-quality net oil pay of approximately 110ft. MP sand was also discovered in the 1980s with 18in of oil pay.

Bulleit well reached the targeted total vertical depth of 13,828ft in August 2019.

Bulleit oil and gas field development details

Bulleit was completed as a production well and tied-back through a 16km-long  subsea pipeline to the Talos-operated GC18A production facility, which is located west to the Bulleit well.

The hydrocarbons produced from the Bulleit field are processed at the GC18A platform and transferred to regional oil and gas sales pipelines.

Contractors involved

James Fisher Offshore performed the engineering, fabrication and installation of equipment related to Bulleit field’s steel catenary riser (SCR) and umbilical. The company installed the SCR porch and clamps to connect the umbilical to the platform legs.

GC18 production facility details

Initially developed by Exxonmobil, the GC18 field was acquired by Whistler Energy II in 2012. Talos came to own the field through the acquisition of Whistler Energy II in September 2018. The Gulf of Mexico field has produced approximately 39Mmboe to date.

The GC18 production facility is located at a water depth of approximately 750ft, 29km north of the Talos-operated Phoenix Field and 241km offshore Louisiana.

The facility consists of a platform drilling rig and a production platform. The rig can drill to a depth of 25,000ft, while the platform is a six-legged, 16-pile, fixed steel structure with 30 well slots.