W&T Offshore made an oil discovery with its Gladden Deep well on Mississippi Canyon 800 block in the US Gulf of Mexico, reported partner Kosmos Energy Ltd. of Dallas.
Gladden Deep is a subsea tie back expected to be brought online through the existing Gladden pipeline to the Medusa spar in this year’s fourth quarter. Based on preliminary analysis of drilling and wireline logging results, the recoverable resource is expected to be in line with the predrill estimate of 7 million boe gross.
Gladden Deep is the first well of a four-well infrastructure-led exploration (ILX) program in the US Gulf this year. Kosmos will drill the Moneypenny prospect in the third quarter, followed by the Oldfield and Resolution prospects in the fourth quarter. These three prospects are collectively targeting 100 million boe, net to Kosmos.
Gladden Deep is the smallest prospect in Kosmos’ drilling campaign this year, said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andy Inglis, but “it is a prime example of our ILX strategy in action—targeting high-margin, high-return barrels that can be quickly brought online through existing facilities.” The development of Gladden Deep, where Kosmos holds 20% interest, has a full cycle rate of return of over 100% at $60/bbl Brent, Inglis said.