INPEX exits Gulf of Mexico holdings
INPEX said September 1 it had disposed of 10.1% participating interest in US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas fields Lucius, in Keathley Canyon (KC) blocks 874, 875, 918 and 919, and Hadrian North Field in KC blocks 918 and 919.
The shares in both projects have been transferred to INPEX's project partners, including Oxy/Anadarko's US offshore subsidiary, as well as Murphy Exploration & Production Company (USA) and Eni Petroleum US, a subsidiary of Italian oil and gas major Eni.
INPEX began its involvement with the Oxy-operated Lucius project in 2012 and saw the development through to completion three years later. The Japanese company said its decision to exit reflected ongoing efforts to "optimise" its global portfolio.
The deepwater Lucius oil and gas field has a nameplate processing capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil/day and 450mn ft3/d of natural gas, extracted some 380km offshore Louisiana through a truss spar floating production facility. Hadrian North lies in the same area and was developed jointly with Lucius's infrastructure, achieving first gas in April 2019.
INPEX had in February 2021 bought an extra 2.35% equity share in both projects, at which time it said the fields were considered key contributors to its E&P growth strategy. Upstream production from the Gulf on the whole is declining. The region, which mainly produces wet gas from crude oil deposits, is expected to yield 100,000 ft3/d less this year, at 2.1bn ft3/d, according to US DoE figures cited by local media.