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Cognac Development Project
The Cognac Unit encompasses four Mississippi Canyon leases - Blocks 108, 151, 194 and 195 - and is located about 105 miles miles southeast of New Orleans in 1,025 feet of water
Shell Offshore Inc. | 34.87% |
|---|---|
| BP/Amoco | 21.8% |
| Agip | 16.5% |
| Sonat | 10.7% |
| Texaco | 6.9% |
| Unocal | 4.7%, |
| Murphy | 2.4%, |
| Phillips | 1.2% |
| Koch | 1.1% |
The working interest owners acquired the leases in the March 1974 OCS lease sale.
The discovery well was drilled in July 1975 with Pacesetter 11 on Block 194. A total of 12 exploration wells were drilled.
Development Planned
Shell announced the partners’ plans to develop Cognac utilizing a fixed steel platform to be installed on Mississippi Canyon Block 194 in 1,025 feet of water. McDermott, Inc. of Morgan City, LA, was contracted to build and install the platform.
Cognac was built and installed in three separate units: the base, middle and top. The base was launched on July 25, 1977. The launch and lowering of the middle and top sections followed a year later.
The platform had 61 wellslots. By the summer of 1981, all 61 wells had been drilled, using two drilling rigs, which, when placed on the deck, made Cognac’s total height 1,265 feet, taller than the Empire State Building in New York City.
At the time of its installation, it was the world’s deepest water platform and the world’s tallest and heaviest steel offshore structure.
Production
Oil is transported 28 miles via a 12 ¾-inch diameter pipeline to South Pass 25. A 16-inch gas pipeline was installed by Southern Natural Gas Pipeline Company in 1981 and runs 20 miles to South Pass Block 22 where it ties into the Southern Natural Gas Romere Pass Pipeline.
Redevelopment
A major field redevelopment program was initiated in July 1989 with a platform shut-in which lasted until March 1991. Twenty redevelopment wells were drilled. Workover rig drilling and recompletions took place from late 1993 to August 1996.
Awards and Recognition
Cognac was named the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement of 1980 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation’s oldest engineering society, and in 1982 it won the Offshore Technology Conference Award for Engineering and Installation.