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    TotalEnergies withdraws from deep water GoM project [UPDATE]

Summary

French major says there are better uses for its available capital. [UPDATE with comments from Equinor]

by: Maureen McCall

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TotalEnergies withdraws from deep water GoM project [UPDATE]

French major TotalEnergies said February 10 it had decided to withdraw from the North Platte deepwater project in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The decision not to continue with the project was taken as the company has better opportunities to allocate capital within its global portfolio, it said.

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TotalEnergies holds a 60% operated interest in North Platte, alongside Norway's Equinor (40%), which has been notified, along with relevant authorities, of the decision to withdraw from the project and of the related resignation of TotalEnergies E&P USA as operator, which will take effect after a short transition period to ensure an orderly hand-over of operatorship.

Despite the withdrawal of TotalEnergies, Equinor remains committed to the North Platte project, its US country manager told NGW.

“While we’re disappointed by TotalEnergies’ decision to withdraw, Equinor remains committed to developing the North Platte project,Chris Golden told NGW in an email. “This high-quality project is a strategic fit for our material position in the US Gulf of Mexico and will add significant value with relatively low carbon emissions intensity. We are aligned with TotalEnergies to facilitate an orderly transition, including fulfilling our legal and regulatory requirements to move forward in development of the field.”

Front-end engineering and design work on North Platte, contemplating production of about 75,000 barrels/day of crude oil and some associated gas, has been underway since 2019. A final investment decision was originally expected in 2021.