By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 26 -- Two affiliates of Kerr-McGee Corp., Oklahoma City, acquired 100% interest in nine oil and gas exploration and production licenses in the Blake Plateau basin about 100 miles north of Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island, company officials said Thursday.
The licenses acquired by Kerr-McGee Bahamas Ltd. and Atlantic Exploration & Production Co. from the Bahamas government cover 6.5 million acres in water depths of 650-7,000 ft.
The exploration period under the licenses extends for up to 12 years, while the production phase is for 30 years with possible extensions. Company officials Thursday declined to give any financial details on the license agreements. They also said they have not set a budget or a window for beginning exploration.
However, company officials said the first phase of the work program includes interpretation of existing seismic data and acquisition new seismic data on the land the, said company officials. A company representative told OGJ Online that Kerr-McGee officials are not aware of any previous drilling on that acreage.
Kerr-McGee plans to use the deepwater expertise that it developed in the Gulf of Mexico to explore and develop this new acreage.
"As the largest independent producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and one of the most active exploratory drillers, we have extensive expertise in deepwater exploration and production that we can apply to our program in the Bahamas," said Luke R. Corbett, Kerr-McGee chairman and CEO.
"These blocks expand our exploration opportunities along the deepwater Atlantic Margin, where we have licenses offshore Nova Scotia, Brazil, Morocco, Benin and Gabon," he said. "With the addition of this acreage, Kerr-McGee holds interests in more than 70 million undeveloped acres worldwide, of which approximately 85% is in deepwater trends."
The Blake Plateau basin is on the southern margin of a large structural terrace between the shelf margin and Atlantic abyssal plain. These blocks contain multiple play types, including large untested carbonate structures that Kerr-McGee officials said are similar to producing fields in North Africa and the Middle East.
Kerr-McGee focuses on developing core areas in high-potential global trends. The company has identified deep water as the exploration target that offers the best opportunities for increasing shareholder value, officials said.