By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 29 – McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans, has set 6-5/8-in. production liner to 30,511 ft and temporarily abandoned the Davy Jones-2 appraisal well on South Marsh Island Block 234 in the Gulf of Mexico until testing next year.
The well, 2-1/2 miles southwest of the Davy Jones discovery well, went to a TD of 30,546 ft. McMoRan is evaluating development options and expects to complete the No. 2 well in the second quarter of 2012. The company is considering updip locations in a subsequent well to the north to evaluate the Tuscaloosa sands and Lower Cretaceous carbonates higher on the structure.
Logs at the Davy Jones-2 appraisal well confirmed hydrocarbon-bearing Wilcox sands with continuity across the major structural features of the Davy Jones prospect. In June, results from wireline logs of the Cretaceous section indicated that the No. 2 well encountered 192 net ft of potential hydrocarbons in the Tuscaloosa and Lower Cretaceous carbonate sections.
Flow testing will be required to confirm the potential hydrocarbons and flow rates from these sandstones and limestones.
McMoRan noted that it has proven that drilling below the salt weld can be achieved safely. In addition, data from four wells drilled since 2008 indicate the presence below salt of geologic formations including Middle-Lower Miocene, Wilcox, Frio, Tuscaloosa, and Cretaceous carbonate that have been highly productive onshore, in the deepwater gulf, and in other parts of the world.
Photo from Esso SAF.
Map from Petrobras.
