offshore project a test of discipline

For longtime athlete Mariela Moreno, completing big projects is like running marathons.

Right now, Moreno is among the hundreds of workers pacing toward the finish line of Chevron’s Ballymore Project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Ballymore, an approximately three-mile subsea tieback project to Blind Faith—an existing Chevron-operated facility—is expected to deliver more than 150 million barrels of oil-equivalent throughout the project’s life span.

“This project has been an exercise in discipline,” said Moreno, Ballymore shared services manager.

The project was approved in May 2022. And once completed, Ballymore is expected to add up to 75,000 barrels per day of crude oil production in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Its production could help meet energy demand from an area that boasts some of the lowest carbon intensity in Chevron’s portfolio.

Last November, another phase of progress was marked with the installation of two new Ballymore modules on the Blind Faith facility. The vapor recovery unit and utility electrical building are considered critical to the Blind Faith facility.

“Installing those units may seem, on the surface, to be a quick and simple scope, but it took more than a year of planning to ensure they were executed safely and seamlessly,” Moreno said. “These installations required significant engineering as well as coordination with contractors, operations, fabricators, support vessels and the Ballymore team to be successful.”

Tests of discipline are nothing new to Moreno, who has completed full and half marathons in the U.S., South Korea, Turkey and Venezuela. She began running as a child with her father, creating priceless memories of time spent together over post-run ice cream.

Perhaps it’s fitting that up to 75,000 barrels of sweet crude oil per day are expected to start flowing at Ballymore’s anticipated completion in 2025.

“When you start a project as a concept, it feels overwhelming,” Moreno said. “Similar to marathons, it requires discipline, planning and a great team to cross that finish line safely.”