Repsol has started oil production in the Leon deepwater field, offshore Louisiana, United States, marking a step forward in its North American expansion strategy. This is part of the Leon-Castile project, a joint initiative with LLOG Exploration Offshore and O.G. Oil & Gas.
The Spanish company has already activated the first well in the Leon field and two additional wells, one in Leon and one in Castile, are expected to come on stream before the end of the year. By 2026, new wells are planned that will strengthen sustained production in the area.
Salamanca platform: key to oil production
The project’s operations are carried out through the floating production unit ‘Salamanca’. This infrastructure was not built from scratch, but was retrofitted, reducing start-up time and cutting carbon emissions by 87% compared to a new platform.
Salamanca can process up to 60,000 barrels of oil and 40 million cubic feet of gas per day.
David Ramos, director of Repsol’s Gulf of America business, noted that the Leon-Castile development is the result of continuous work since the discovery of the field in 2014 and stressed the importance of reusing infrastructure in favor of sustainability and operational efficiency.
Repsol has maintained a presence in the Gulf for more than 20 years, participating in finds such as Buckskin (2009) and Shenzi. It currently operates in Texas, Alaska, Pennsylvania and in the Gulf itself. In addition, the company is moving forward with a carbon capture and storage project offshore Texas and manages more than 81,000 hectares of exploration in the region.
In the renewable energy sector, the company has installed 1,400 MW in solar projects. solar and storage and storage projects in Texas and New Mexico, along with 20 GW under development in 13 states. Since 2008, it has invested more than US$24 billion in its U.S. operations, where it employs close to 800 people.
It is important to mention that Repsol owns 50% of the Leon field and 35.62% of Castile, in addition to 2.5% in the operating platform.
Source: Repsol
Photo: shutterstock
