On 20 December 2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved BP Exploration & Production Inc. as the designated operator and sole owner of the Tiber and Guadalupe units, two appraised deepwater Wilcox oil discoveries that are being groomed for potential development. Former operator Chevron U.S.A. Inc. announced its decision to withdraw from these Tigris area projects in September 2018. Before Chevronâs departure, the acreage in this venture had been jointly owned by Chevron (50%) and BP (50%).  The Tigris project area resides in the northwest Keathley Canyon area in the deepwater Western Gulf of Mexico, about 175 miles (280 km) southeast of Galveston, Texas. Tigris contains three Wilcox discoveries that lie in over 4,000 ft (1,219 m) of water: Tiber, Guadalupe, and Gibson. Appraisal activities concluded for Tiber and Guadalupe in 2017 while under Chevronâs auspices. The leases in both Tiber and Guadalupe have passed their scheduled expiry dates and are held for now by unit suspensions of production (SOP). Chevron had been progressing pre-feed and conceptual work was underway to develop these three accumulations as a multi-field tieback to a new central host facility. The Gibson lease has a November 2019 expected expiry date and is still jointly owned, according to BOEM records.  It remains to be seen if BP moves forward with these potential developments and it has a limited window in which to act. In order to maintain the SOP, BP must demonstrate to government regulators a reasonable schedule of development activity that will lead to the commencement of production. Failure to meet the proposed schedule could lead to the termination of the SOP and the leases. BP is already appealing the governmentâs termination of its Kaskida unit and its leases after BPâs request for a unit suspension of operations was denied. BP made the Kaskida discovery in 2006. This Wilcox oil find is also located in Keathley Canyon about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of the Tigris area.  Background Information  The nine-lease Tiber unit (Contract No. 754315003) consists of contiguous Keathley Canyon blocks 57 (G25777), 58 (G30910), 59 (G30911), 101 (G25781), 102 (G25782), 103 (G30917), 146 (G33006), 147 (G30926) and 148 (G30927). The Guadalupe unit (Contract No. 754317002) contains two leases over adjacent Keathley Canyon blocks 9 (G27697) and 10 (G27698).
BP Exploration & Production Inc. as the designated operator and sole owner of the Tiber and Guadalupe units, two appraised deepwater Wilcox oil discoveries that are being groomed for potential development. Former operator Chevron U.S.A. Inc. announced its decision to withdraw from these Tigris area projects in September 2018. Before Chevronâs departure, the acreage in this venture had been jointly owned by Chevron (50%) and BP (50%). 