The Blackbeard East exploratory well has become the first Gulf of Mexico shelf or deepwater well to encounter hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Oligocene Frio formation below 30,000 ft.The Frio sand section is geologically older than the drilled section at Blackbeard West (33,000 ft) about 10 miles west on South Timbalier Block 168, said operator McMoRan Exploration Co., New Orleans.The Frio sand section below 30,000 ft, which wireline logs indicate has good porosity, is in addition to the 178 net ft of hydrocarbons in the Miocene the well encountered above 25,000 ft at Blackbeard East.McMoRan said, "The pressure and temperature data below the salt weld between 19,500 ft and 24,600 ft...