Beacon Offshore evaluating sidetrack as Winterfell-3 remediation proves unsuccessful
Beacon Offshore Energy LLC, Houston, along with its US Gulf of Mexico Wintershall development partners, are evaluating a future sidetrack to produce reserves after remediation of the Winterfell-3 well was unsuccessful.
Kosmos Energy Ltd., a 25% partner in the development, provided the update as part of its first-quarter 2025 report on May 6.
Winterfell, a Miocene-aged field discovered in 2021 in water depth of 5,400 ft in the Green Canyon areas, is being developed in phases through a 13-mile subsea tieback to the Occidental-operated host spar platform.
The initial two production wells were drilled and completed with subsea hookup in April 2024 (OGJ Online, Aug. 12, 2024). Following work delays, oil production start-up occurred in July that year. The third well went online in November 2024, but sand production from the well was seen at the host Heidelberg platform and the first two wells were taken offline.
As part of its fourth-quarter 2024 report in February 2025, Kosmos said Winterfell was shut in for most of the quarter due to the Winterfell-3 issues, but that Winterfell-1 and Winterfell-2 were brought back online late-December.
Drilling of the Winterfell-4 well is currently under way. It is expected online in this year's third quarter.
The other partners in the Winterfell unit are Westlawn Americas Offshore, Red Willow, Alta Mar Energy, and CSL Exploration.
Mikaila Adams | Managing Editor - News
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was named Managing Editor - News in 2019. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.