marking a milestone in the gulf of america

Steven Larkin was just beginning his career when he experienced something unforgettable.

That experience? Helping discover the oil and gas potential of an offshore field, now called Tahiti, in the Gulf of America (GOA). This feat remains a professional highlight, 26 years later.

“I had a mentor who said to me, ‘I want you to understand that this doesn’t happen very often, and it may never happen again in your career,’” recalled Larkin, who was a geophysicist at the time. “I took that to heart.”

Larkin, now a Chevron subsurface assurance earth science consultant, has since moved on from Tahiti. But he remains impressed with all that Chevron has accomplished there since those early days.

In June, the Chevron-operated Tahiti Field produced its 500 millionth barrel of oil-equivalent. The total production from the field is enough to power 11.5 million homes for one year.

This makes it the sixth-largest asset—by total oil-equivalent output—in the deepwater GOA to date.

Chevron started production at Tahiti in 2009. However, maintaining a high level of output there has required extensive development over the past 15 years.

This has included projects involving water injection, infill drilling and new reservoir drilling. Most recently, Chevron has started injecting water into its first deepwater Gulf injection wells that have been converted from production wells.

With these upgrades in place, Tahiti could continue producing through approximately 2045.

The global need for energy is growing, and Chevron is working to meet that need through ongoing oil and gas production. Oil and gas produced by Chevron in the GOA are among the lowest carbon intensity barrels in the industry.

Tahiti is among six offshore platforms operated by Chevron in the GOA. That figure includes Chevron’s newest addition, Anchor, which achieved first oil in August.

Chevron’s GOA production, including contributions from projects at Tahiti, Jack/St. Malo and Anchor, is expected to reach 300,000 net barrels of oil-equivalent per day by 2026.

That’s an increase of more than 50% over 2020 levels.

Want to learn more about Chevron’s new Anchor Platform? Read “Energy Everywhere: A New Frontier in Deepwater Development.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated after publishing. The name of the Gulf of America was changed from its previous name, the Gulf of Mexico.