CNOOC Begins Production At Stampede Field In Gulf Of Mexico

Chinese upstream oil major, CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO) recently announced the start of production at the company's Stampede Field facility located in one of the largest undeveloped fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

The deepwater facility, located around 185 kilometers south of Fourchon, LA, has a reservoir depth of 9,100 meters. Its topsides can process around 80,000 barrels of oil and 40 million standard cubic feet of natural gas daily. It also has water injection capacity of 100,000 barrels per day.

Per the development plan, the production facilities are expected to have six subsea production wells. Production will be supported by four water injection wells. So far, three production wells have been completed. The company expects production to increase through 2018. It is expected to help the company reach its 2018 production target of 470 to 480 million barrels of oil equivalent. Of the targeted production amount, 81% is expected to be oil while the rest will be gas.

We note that CNOOC has 25% working interest in the field through its wholly owned unit Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) with 25% stake is the operator of the Stampede Field. Chevron Corporation's (NYSE:CVX) subsidiary, Union Oil Company of California and Statoil (OL:STL) Gulf of Mexico LLC, a unit of Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) , hold 25% interest each in the field.

After the commencement of production in the Stampede Field, Weizhou 6-13 oil field in Western South China Sea is scheduled to come online in the first half of 2018, where CNOOC has 100% working interest.

About CNOOC

Based in Central, Hong Kong, CNOOC Limited engages primarily in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Apart from its presence in offshore China, the company operates in Africa, North America, South America, Oceania, and Europe.

Zacks Rank and Price Performance

CNOOC has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company has gained 23.5% in the last year compared with 27.2% growth of its industry.

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