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Maersk kicks off historic US oil production
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December 8th, 2014
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The Danish company tries deep-water extraction for the first time
For the first time in its history, the oil and shipping giant Maersk has begun producing oil from the US in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is doing so via deep-water offshore drilling – another first for the Danish company.
The oil is being extracted by a floating rig in 2,100-metre deep waters in the Jack oil field some 450 kilometres off the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana.
"The Jack field will deliver Maersk Oil's first oil from deep water and the first production in the US,” explained Gretchen Watkins, the chief operating officer at Maersk Oil, according to Børsen business newspaper.
”The ability to deliver projects on time and within budget, combined with capital, discipline and technical options, is essential for Maersk Oil. The Jack field is a good example of that.”
READ MORE: Maersk establishes captive insurance company
Future expansion
The Jack field – which was discovered ten years ago and is expected to last 30 years – is run by the oil company Chevron, which owns 50 percent of the field, while Maersk and the Norwegian oil company Statoil own 25 percent each.
The production has a capacity of 170,000 barrels of petroleum and 42 million cubic metres of natural gas a day, although Maersk is eyeing a future expansion to 240,000 barrels this year and 400,000 barrels a day by 2020.
Aside from the Gulf of Mexico, Maersk's oil production includes operations in Britain, Algeria and Kazakhstan, while the lion's share of its oil production takes place in the North Sea and Qatar.
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