OREANDA-NEWS. Eni announces the production start-up from the Lucius Field in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater, 240 miles south of the Louisiana coast, United States.

Lucius, which is in approximately 7,000 feet of water, has a production secured through 6 subsea wells tied back to a moored production handling spar connected to the shore via dedicated oil and gas pipelines. The spar has a design capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 450 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of gas. Once all wells are ramped up, Eni's share of the Lucius daily production is expected to be approximately 7,000 boed.

The Lucius field was discovered in November 2009 and the subsequent development project was sanctioned in late 2011. Eni owns a working interest of 8.5% in the field operated by Anadarko. Eni also holds a 30% working interest in the nearby Hadrian South gas field operated by ExxonMobil, which is a subsea development tied back to Lucius spar, and is expected to produce 300 MMscf/d at plateau, with startup expected in early 2015.

The Greater Hadrian area, which includes the Lucius and Hadrian South fields, represents a core asset for Eni's future production, since it is expected to provide approximately 20,000 boed equity of combined production at its peak.

In the US, Eni owns interests in 200 leases in the Gulf of Mexico and 530 leases in unconventional plays (shale gas and shale oil) onshore Texas. In addition, Eni owns interests in 100 leases in the North Slope of Alaska, which include 100% of Nikaitchuq and 30% of the Oooguruk oil fields.

Eni's current net production in the US is approximately 100,000 boed, 75% of which is operated.