Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) announced today that it has achieved first oil from the Khaleesi, Mormont and Samurai field development project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, as production has begun flowing through the Murphy-operated King’s Quay floating production system (King’s Quay FPS).

The project is comprised of the Khaleesi / Mormont fields in Green Canyon blocks 389 and 478, respectively, and the Samurai field, located in Green Canyon Block 432. Completions operations are ongoing for the remaining five wells in the seven-well project.

“This has been a strategic project of ours since we acquired the Khaleesi / Mormont assets in mid-2019 and integrated our Samurai discovery into the overall development. Achieving first oil on schedule and within budget, while managing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrates the competitive advantage of our industry-leading offshore execution ability. I am proud of our team’s accomplishments these past three years with the fabrication and installation of the King’s Quay FPS and our subsea flowline systems, as well as drilling and completing the wells,” said Roger W. Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The production coming online is forecast to generate significant free cash flow, which will allow us to continue to delever with $600 to $650 million of targeted debt reduction this year and the optionality of up to $1 billion in 2023¹, while simultaneously reviewing our dividend. I look forward to the ongoing production growth from the Gulf of Mexico as the remainder of the wells come online throughout 2022.”

As an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, Murphy Oil Corporation believes in providing energy that empowers people by doing right always, staying with it and thinking beyond possible. Murphy challenges the norm, taps into its strong legacy and uses its foresight and financial discipline to deliver inspired energy solutions. Murphy sees a future where it is an industry leader who is positively impacting lives for the next 100 years and beyond