Noble plugs Humpback well offshore Falkland Islands

Oct. 29, 2015
Noble Energy Inc., Houston, reported that the Humpback well offshore the Falkland Islands reached total depth and is being plugged. Humpback was drilled in the Fitzroy sub-basin of the Southern Area license and encountered noncommercial quantities of crude oil and natural gas.

Noble Energy Inc., Houston, reported that the Humpback well offshore the Falkland Islands reached total depth and is being plugged. Humpback was drilled in the Fitzroy sub-basin of the Southern Area license and encountered noncommercial quantities of crude oil and natural gas (OGJ Online, Oct. 1, 2014).

Full well assessment and the integration of drilling results into Noble’s geologic models is ongoing to determine remaining exploration potential in the Southern Area license, the company says. The geologic play including Humpback is only one of a number of prospect play types in the license.

The rig that drilled the Humpback well will be released to another operator before returning to Noble to spud the Rhea prospect in late 2015 or early 2016.

Located in the Northern Area license offshore the Falkland Islands and 265 miles from Humpback, Rhea is in a proven petroleum basin near existing oil discoveries, the company says (OGJ Online, Apr. 13, 2015). Rhea is a Cretaceous-aged prospect with multiple reservoir targets and total estimated gross mean unrisked resources in excess of 250 million bbl of oil.

Noble now expects total third-quarter 2015 exploration expense to be $200 million, which includes the majority of net costs related to the Humpback well.