Norway’s Statoil has decided to invest $1.5bn in Stampede, which is operated by Hess and is expected to begin production in 2018.

Statoil’s announcement on 31 October came three days after Chevron announced that its subsidiary, Union Oil Company of California, had also decided to back Stampede.

The owner line-up is now Statoil (25%), Union Oil Company of California (25%), Hess (25%) and Nexen (25%). The total Stampede development is expected to cost $6bn.

A new project named from uniting the former discoveries of Knotty Head and Pony, Stampede is located approximately 350km (215 miles) from New Orleans at a water depth of more than 1,000 meters (3,500 feet).

The reservoir depth is 9,100 meters (30,000 feet). Stampede consists of Green Canyon Blocks 468, 511 and 512.

Statoil estimates the reservoir contains approximately 350 million barrels of recoverable oil. Stampede’s development plan calls for six subsea production wells and four water injection wells from two subsea drill centers tied back to a tension leg platform.

Gross topsides processing capacity for the project is approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day and 100,000 barrels of water injection capacity per day.

“We’re very pleased to see Stampede move forward toward production in 2018,” said Jason Nye, senior vice president of Statoil’s U.S. offshore business. “This field has a long production life capable of generating a consistent high volume of valuable barrels.”

Statoil’s U.S. offshore business currently includes production from Caesar Tonga and Tahiti in the Gulf of Mexico.

It also has a development portfolio with ownership in many of the largest fields in the area to start production over the next few years: Jack & St. Malo (25% and 21.5% ownership, respectively), Big Foot (27% ownership); Heidelberg (12%ownership), Julia (50% ownership) and Vito (30% ownership).