Noble Energy has made a discovery at the Big Bend exploration prospect in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well, located in 7,200 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 698, was drilled to a total depth of 15,989 ft. Open-hole logging identified approximately 150 ft of net oil pay in two high-quality Miocene reservoirs.
“The discovery at Big Bend is an exciting follow-up to our recent success at Galapagos,” Charles D. Davidson, chairman and CEO of Noble Energy, said. “The well results appear at least as good as our pre-drill mean resource expectations and de-risked our offset prospect Troubadour. The combination of excellent reservoir properties, fluid characteristics and our high working interest in this project will contribute significant production and cash flow for our business.”
Noble Energy operates with a 54% working interest in Big Bend. Other interest owners are W&T Energy VI with 20%, Red Willow Offshore with 15.4% and Houston Energy Deepwater Ventures V with 10.6%.
Noble has also drilled the Scotia exploration well offshore Falkland Islands to a depth of 18,226 ft and reached its Cretaceous objective as expected on 2D seismic. The well experienced hydrocarbon shows while drilling the target section. Initial log analysis identified 164 ft of low-quality reservoir. The operator of the well, Falklands Oil and Gas (FOGL), intends to plug and abandon the well.
“We are encouraged by the well results,” Susan M. Cunningham, senior vice president of Exploration and Business Innovation for Noble Energy, said. “Although we did not see a substantial amount of reservoir section, virtually all sandstones with significant porosity in and below the target contained hydrocarbons. Following our imminent acquisition of 3D seismic, we will integrate well results and assess the economic viability of this particular prospect. The 3D seismic will also help identify future exploration activity on our 10 million gross acre position.”
Noble Energy holds a 35% interest and will become operator of the Northern Area Licenses on 1 March 2013. Partners include FOGL with 40% and Edison International Spa with 25%.
