The consortium of Repsol, LLOG Exploration Offshore, and O.G. Oil & Gas (OG) has achieved first oil at the deepwater Leon-Castile fields, forming Salamanca development project, through a refurbished floating production unit (FPU), offshore Louisiana, in the Gulf of America.
The production has started from a well at Leon field, with two other wells expected to come online in 2025 at Leon and the adjacent Castile field, according to the partners.
The production at two additional wells is planned for 2026, the consortium added.
Production from the Leon-Castile development is being processed at the dedicated Salamanca floating production unit (FPU).
LLOG is the operator of the Salamanca FPU, as well as the Leon and Castile discoveries with Repsol and OG as non-operating working interest owners.
Repsol holds a 50% working interest in Leon and 35.62% in Castile, as well as 2.5% in the Salamanca FPU, which has an initial production capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil per day and 40 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The Salamanca project included the refurbishment of a former Gulf of America production facility, which was transformed into an FPU, marking the first such achievement in the United States. The innovative approach significantly minimized the environmental impact of the project by reusing existing infrastructure and reduced time.
According to Repsol, it delivered an estimated 87% reduction in emissions compared to the construction of a new unit.
“LLOG is very pleased to have recently initiated production at the Salamanca FPU with a well from the Leon field. Production will continue to ramp up as we add additional producing wells from both the Leon and Castile fields.
“By modifying a previously built production unit compared with constructing a new facility, we are able to significantly reduce the time to bring these discoveries online. As important, the project has a significantly positive environmental impact as it reuses an existing unit compared with abandonment of the unit, while also accomplishing approximately an 87% reduction in emissions impact compared to the construction of a new unit.
“The other aspect is that the major construction for this project has been undertaken in shipyards and construction yards in Texas and Louisiana versus occurring internationally,” said Philip Lejeune, Chief Executive Officer and President of LLOG.
LLOG entered the Leon field as the operator in 2019 through an agreement with Repsol that also brought the global multi-energy company into the LLOG-operated Castile field, with the goal to accelerate plans and optimize the economics of developing both discoveries. OG joined the partnership in 2024.