First Oil Begins Flowing From King’s Quay Floating Production System, Murphy Oil Says

The American oil company Murphy Oil Corporation has started oil production from the Khaleesi, Mormont and Samurai field development project in the deepwater section of the Gulf of Mexico in the United States.

Production began this month from the King’s Quay floating production system operated by Murphy, designed to process up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day and up to 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The project, sanctioned in August 2019, includes the Khaleesi/Mormont fields in Green Canyon blocks 389 and 478, respectively, and the Samurai field, located in Green Canyon block 432. Completion operations are underway for the remaining five wells in the seven-well project, Murphy Oil said Tuesday.Location of King’s Quay in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States – Credit: Murphy Oil Corporation

Roger W. Jenkins, President and CEO, said, “This has been one of our strategic projects since we acquired the Khaleesi/Mormont assets in mid-2019 and integrated our Samurai discovery into the overall development. Achieving first oil on time and on budget, while managing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, exemplifies the competitive advantage of our industry-leading offshore execution capability. I am proud of the accomplishments of our team over the past three years with the fabrication and installation of the King’s Quay FPS and our subsea pipeline systems, as well as the drilling and completion of wells,”

“Bringing production online is expected to generate significant free cash flow, allowing us to continue to deleverage with targeted debt reduction of $600-650 million this year and the option of up to 1 billion in 2023, while simultaneously revising our dividend. I look forward to continued production growth in the Gulf of Mexico as the remaining wells come online throughout 2022.”