Alan Petzet
OGJ Chief Editor-Exploration
HOUSTON, Sept. 2 -- BP PLC has reported a giant Gulf of Mexico Lower Tertiary deepwater discovery that is also one of the world’s deepest wells.
Named Tiber, the well went to a total depth of 35,055 ft on Keathley Canyon Block 102 and found oil in multiple Lower Tertiary (Paleogene) reservoirs, BP said. The company didn’t disclose the depth or thickness of the oil column.
The company said Tiber, after appraisal to determine its size, should be larger than the 3 billion boe in place that BP believes are present in its 2006 Kaskida discovery 45 miles to the southeast.
Kaskida, on Keathley Canyon 292, is under appraisal through 2010. The Kaskida discovery well went to 32,500 ft in 5,860 ft of water and cut 800 net ft of hydrocarbon-bearing sands.
The Kaskida unit covers 51,840 acres on nine blocks. BP plans to apply enhanced oil recovery technology to maximize the recovery factor at Kaskida. Kaskida interests are BP 73.33% and Devon Energy Corp. 26.67%.
BP holds interests in numerous other blocks around Keathley Canyon 102.
Andy Inglis, chief executive, BP Exploration & Production, said, “These material discoveries together with our industry leading acreage position support the continuing growth of our deepwater Gulf of Mexico business into the second half of the next decade.”
BP is the gulf’s largest oil and gas producer with net production of more than 400,000 boe/d. It is working on nine Gulf of Mexico projects: Atlantis Phase 2, Tubular Bells, Kodiak, Freedom, Kaskida, Isabela, Santa Cruz, Mad Dog tiebacks, and Great White.
Tiber is nearly 300 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Tex., in 4,132 ft of water. It is also 35 miles southeast of the Gunnison field complex in the Garden Banks area.
BP operates Tiber with 62% interest. Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA has 20%, and ConocoPhillips has 18%.
Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon ultradeepwater semisubmersible drilled Tiber to 35,050 ft true vertical depth, 35,055 ft measured depth.
Other noteworthy world penetrations include an extended reach well off Qatar that went to 40,320 ft MD with a 35,770-ft horizontal section. The former Soviet Union drilled a stratigraphic test near Murmansk, reaching 40,226 ft in the early 1990s (OGJ, Dec. 7, 1992, p. 32).
Contact Alan Petzet at [email protected].