Stephanie Daniels with Agency Report
The US Gulf is now back and even gaining strength and momentum from almost a decade of inactivity consequent upon price crash since 2015, industry sources reported. Now back, expectation at the moment, looking at the speed and aggression accompanying exploration and production activities, it is believed that output is likely to reach 2.2 million boepd in 2026.
The Gulf of America (GoA) Energy Window International (Media) gathers is already witnessing an outstanding 2025, in terms of startup activity – three new floating production units (FPU) were reported set for operations by the end of the year – the target is just about driving the basin’s deepwater output. Nearly 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2026 is the target.
Credit to Shell for bringing its Whale FPU which as Energy Window International (Media) gathered, achieved peak oil production rates of 100, 000 barrels per day within five months after coming on-line in January. Private operator Beacon Offshore Energy, it was reported, equally set a record of its own in July with the start of its Shenandoah project, “the second to produce from the Inboard Wilcox trend using so-called 20K technology designed to handle high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) conditions with wellhead pressures of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch (psi),” leaving Salamanca FPU – a joint development between private operator LLOG, Spanish producer Repsol, and OG Oil and Gas – as the final floater startup of 2025, with output expected to begin as soon as possible.
“The Gulf has in many ways come full circle since the price crash that rattled the industry a decade ago, with the floaters of 2025 adding nearly 350,000 boepd of nameplate processing capacity,” the report highlighted. “This represents the highest capacity additions since 2015, when Anadarko Petroleum brought the Heidelberg and Lucius truss spars on-line and LLOG fired up its Delta House FPU in the Mississippi Canyon.”
“While floaters have dominated the headlines, four new subsea tiebacks have also commenced operations in 2025 with material growth prospects going into 2026. Chevron’s Ballymore development – which targets the high-temperature Norphlet trend and ties back to the major’s Blind Faith FPU – is the largest of the four, while Shell’s nearby Dover field will provide around 20,000 boepd of backfill production to the Appomattox FPU. Meanwhile, BP had in August announced early startup of its Argos Southwest Extension project, a three-well tieback with estimated peak rates of 20,000 bpd.”
All in all, the peer group of 2025 Gulf of America startups is set to add 350,000 boepd in 2026-2027, with new FPU projects accounting for around 70% of total near-term volume (Figure 2). Arguably more significant is that the class of 2025 is forecast to account for between 15% and 18% of total US deepwater output, representing the highest sustained production contributions from a single startup year since 2009.
“The next five years will see significant new commissioning activity with the likes of FPU-based projects such as Sparta, Kaskida and Tiber – all of which target more challenging Lower Tertiary reservoirs. More regular leasing and the initial results from multi-client ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic surveys may also set the stage for new discoveries as US deepwater players refill their exploration hoppers. For now, though, 2025 is shaping up to be a standout year for the Gulf, with few parallels in the recent past or near future.”