By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 22 -- Nexen Inc., Calgary, said a sidetrack well has confirmed the Knotty Head oil discovery on Green Canyon Block 512 in the Gulf of Mexico.
The discovery well was drilled in 2005 to 34,189 ft TD—the deepest well drilled to date in the gulf—and found about 600 ft of net oil pay in multiple zones (OGJ, Jan. 2, 2006, Newsletter).
The sidetrack well was drilled downdip to 32,986 ft TD, with a bottomhole location about 4,500 ft south of the original wellbore, Nexen reported. The sidetrack penetrated all reservoirs seen in the discovery well and logged about 400 ft of net oil pay.
The field's resource estimate prior to drilling of the first exploration well, according to Nexen, was 350 million-1 billion bbl of oil. Based on drilling results, the company estimates the resource at 200-500 million bbl of oil equivalent. The field lies in 3,500 ft of water.
Nexen, operator of the block, holds 25% working interest. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., BHP Billiton, and Chevron Corp. hold 25% interests each.
