Fox-hailed deepwater well a modest gas find

Noxal-1, a deepwater Gulf of Mexico well trumpeted in March by Mexican President Vicente Fox as being a major oil discovery, appears to be a modest gas find.

July 5, 2006

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 5 -- Noxal-1, a deepwater Gulf of Mexico well trumpeted in March by Mexican President Vicente Fox as being a major oil discovery, appears to be a modest gas find.

Speaking on Mar. 14 from the drilling rig in 935 m of water 63 miles off Coatzacoalcos, Fox said the then as-yet-untested well had the potential to produce 10 billion bbl of oil (OGJ, Apr. 17, 2006, p. 35).

However, after the well operated by state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos reached a total depth of 4,000 m, the fourth interval tested has flowed 9 MMcfd of gas from a reserve estimated at 245 bcf, said IHS Energy, Houston.

Noxal-1 is a new field wildcat in the Catemaco fold belt, previously considered an oil-prone sector of the Sureste basin. It is Mexico's first deepwater gas discovery.

The new producing region is to be known as Coatzacoalcos Profundo, or deepwater Coatzacoalcos, IHS Energy said.