TotalFinaElf announces the launch of the Canyon Express subsea natural gas gathering project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The project will allow the development of three deepwater natural gas fields in the Mississippi Canyon play, around 120 miles south of New Orleans: Aconcagua (operated by TotalFinaElf with a 50% interest), King’s Peak (in which BP has a 100% interest) and Camden Hills (in which TotalFinaElf has 16.67% interest).

The partners in Aconcagua will own 45% of the TotalFinaElf-operated Canyon Express system, while BP will own 35% and the partners in Camden Hills, 20%.

The Canyon Express system will be laid in water depths ranging from 100 to 2,200 meters and consist of a dual 12-inch, 88-kilometer pipeline with a transmission capacity of 500 million cubic feet per day. The structure will gather natural gas from the Camden Hills, Aconcagua and King’s Peak fields and carry it to the new Canyon Station processing platform, operated by Williams in Block MP 261 around 55 miles north of Camden Hills.

The pipeline will be laid in 2001 and the Canyon Express system will come on stream in summer 2002, at the same time as the three fields.

The Canyon Express partners pooled their skills and know-how to optimize production from the three fields that will be tied into the gathering system. Canyon Express is also a major technological breakthrough for TotalFinaElf and the other interest holders, making it possible to undertake oil and gas developments at previously untapped depths of between 1,800 and 2,200 meters.