Beacon advances deepwater Gulf developments with Monument, Zephyrus field work

Scott Gutterman, Beacon’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the Monument drilling results support subsurface interpretation of the field, and the startup of Zephyrus #2 expands a growing production base.

June 16, 2026

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Deep blue open water — Beacon Offshore Energy is advancing its Monument and Zephyrus developments in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, including new drilling at Monument and startup of a second production well at Zephyrus.

Beacon Offshore Energy LLC is advancing two deepwater Gulf of Mexico developments, having drilled the first development well at Monument field and brought a second production well online at Zephyrus field.

At Monument in Walker Ridge Block 315, the first development well reached a total depth of 32,250 ft and encountered 245 ft of net pay (true vertical thickness) in Lower Wilcox reservoirs, confirming pre-drill expectations for reservoir quality, the operator said. Beacon will continue drilling a second development well before completing the initial two-well program. First oil from the Wilcox development is expected before yearend 2026.

Monument is being developed through a two-well, 17-mile subsea tieback to the Beacon-operated Shenandoah floating production system, which was designed as a regional host platform for developments in the northwestern Walker Ridge area, including Shenandoah, Monument, and Shenandoah South fields. Partners are Navitas Petroleum and Talos Energy Inc.

At Zephyrus in Mississippi Canyon Block 759, production from the Zephyrus #2 well began in late April after the well was completed in first-quarter 2026. The well is producing from Miocene sands.

Combined with Zephyrus #1, which started production in late 2025, the field is expected to reach peak production of more than 20,000 boe/d.

The Zephyrus development is tied back to the Shell plc-operated West Boreas subsea infrastructure, with production processed on the Olympus tension-leg platform in the Mars corridor. Partners are Houston Energy, HEQ II, Red Willow Offshore, Westlawn Americas Offshore, and Murphy Exploration & Production.