Stone Energy Corp., Lafayette, La., encountered 288 ft of net pay in two intervals with its Cardona No. 6 development well on Mississippi Canyon Block 29 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Logging and pressure data confirmed the existence of oil in the pay zones.
The company says the results are similar to net pay of 275 ft found through the Cardona No. 5 well (OGJ Online, Dec. 4, 2014). Cardona No. 6 has been cased and cemented across all productive zones, the subsea tree has been installed, and completion operations have begun.
The well will be tied into Stone’s existing Cardona subsea infrastructure, which flows into the company’s Pompano platform. Gross production from Cardona No. 6 is expected to reach 5,000 boe/d from the lower completion by late September. The upper completion is expected to have a similar production rate and will be accessed in the future by hydraulically shifting sleeves between the upper and lower completions.
Upon completion of Cardona No. 6, of which Stone holds 65% working interest, the Ensco 8503 deepwater drilling rig will be released for 60 days to receive scheduled maintenance and to be outfitted with mooring capabilities (OGJ Online, Oct. 7, 2014). The rig will then be mobilized to Mississippi Canyon Block 26 to finish the completion of the Amethyst discovery, of which Stone holds 100% working interest.
Amethyst will also be tied back to the Pompano platform, where production is expected to begin early in first-quarter 2016. Following the Amethyst completion, the rig is projected to drill the Cardona No. 7 development well and the Lamprey deepwater exploration prospect.
Stone expects second-quarter production to be at or above the high end of its previous guidance of 246-258 MMcfd of gas equivalent. It attributes the increase to reduced scheduled third-party pipeline downtime in the deepwater gulf and flatter than expected production declines in Appalachia. Additional upward revisions in Appalachian production may be realized in the second-quarter earnings results pending participation elections by Stone’s operating partners.
