MOBIL GAUGES GAS OFF ALABAMA; MORE SUBSEA WELLS DUE IN GULF

Operators in the Gulf of Mexico have tested a hefty gas well off Alabama and plan subsea projects off Louisiana and Texas. Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. nearly doubled the best flow off Alabama with a gauge of more than 60 MMcfd at its A-3 development well in Mobile Block 823 in 44 ft of water, 4 miles south of Dauphin Island. That eclipsed the previous record of about 36 MMcfd.

June 18, 1990

3 min read

Operators in the Gulf of Mexico have tested a hefty gas well off Alabama and plan subsea projects off Louisiana and Texas.

Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. nearly doubled the best flow off Alabama with a gauge of more than 60 MMcfd at its A-3 development well in Mobile Block 823 in 44 ft of water, 4 miles south of Dauphin Island. That eclipsed the previous record of about 36 MMcfd.

Enserch Exploration Partners Ltd. tested a deepwater confirmation to a 1986 gas discovery in Mississippi Canyon Block 441, where it plans subsea wells tied back to adjacent Ewing Bank Block 482 in 380 ft of water.

BP Exploration plans to start production this fall from its first subsea well in the gulf. Drilled in 460 ft of water in High Island Block A-587 off Texas, the well will produce as much as 25 MMcfd to BP's Platform Snapper in East Breaks Block 165, 5.7 miles away in 860 ft of water.

THE DETAILS

Drilled to 23,010 ft, Mobil's A-3 well in OCS Block 823 field flowed 62.3 MMcfd through a 48/64 in. choke with 5,067 psi flowing tubing pressure from Jurassic Norphlet. The well cut 322 ft of net pay.

The company is building a platform for Block 832, with first production from the federal sector off Alabama scheduled to begin in third quarter 1991. Block 823 gas will be treated in Mobil's onshore plant near Coden, Ala., currently treating production from the company's Mary Ann field in Mobile Bay.

Mobil holds a 50% interest in the well. Its partners are units of Texaco Inc. 25%, Conoco Inc. 12.5%, Exxon Corp. 7.5%, and ENI Group subsidiary Agip Petroleum Co. Inc. 5%.

Enserch's 4 (Sidetrack 1) well flowed at a sustained rate of nearly 18 MMcfd through a 36/64 in. choke, with 2,055 psi flowing tubing pressure from perforations at 8,417-8,563 ft. Core analysis showed porosities of 31-37%, with permeabilities of 650 md to more than 6,000 md.

Enserch drilled the well to 10,750 ft in 1,427 ft of water.

It owns a 37.5% working interest in Block 441, where partners are Petrofina Delaware Inc. 30.5% and Agip 32%. The group acquired the lease, 55 miles south of New Orleans, in 1982 for a little more than $4 million.

BP will run two 4 in. flow lines and a 1 in. glycol injection line between its High Island well and Platform Snapper. It will then use a semisubmersible rig to clean, perforate, and test the well before laying a hydraulic control line between the two sites.

BP owns a 75% interest in High Island A-587. Union Texas Petroleum Corp. holds the remaining interest.