Total Joins Chevron in Gulf of Mexico Development

French Total has expanded its presence in the Gulf of Mexico by closing a farm-in agreement with Chevron for the development of seven prospects covering 16 blocks in the deepwater section of the gulf.  The French company said the prospects it will develop are located in the Wilcox play in the central Gulf of Mexico, next to the Anchor discovery, and in the Norphlet area, close to the Appomattox discovery, Oil Price reported.

Total will take stakes of between 25-40% in the prospects, to add to its already existing interests in producing fields in the GOM: a 17-% stake in the Tahiti field, whose operator is again Chevron, and a 33.33% interest in the Chinook field, operated by Brazil’s Petrobras. The French major also holds 40% in the North Platte field, operated by Cobalt Energy.French Total has expanded its presence in the Gulf of Mexico by closing a farm-in agreement

"Separately, Total won six offshore exploration licenses for the Gulf of Mexico in the latest lease sale that took place in August," President of Total Exploration & Production Arnaud Breuillac said in the press release on the new partnership.

This means that to date, after the acquisition of Maersk Oil, which also has assets in the Gulf of Mexico, Total has access to more than 160 exploration licenses off the US Gulf coast.

Onshore, the French company bought all of Chesapeake Energy’s assets in the Barnett shale and holds a 25% stake in Chesapeake’s and EnerVest joint venture in the Utica play.

Total has managed to weather the effects of the 2014 price crash more quickly than some peers, not least thanks to massive layoffs and is now on an expansion path, which involves not just new oil and gas projects spanning from the US to Iran and Qatar, but also in renewables as the company shifts toward a cleaner energy direction, following global energy trends.

Total’s daily crude oil and condensate production last year averaged 1.27 million barrels and refining throughput stood at 1.965 million barrels daily.