Hess Encouraged By Huron Well In Gulf Of Mexico

American independent energy company Hess Corporation has seen some promising results from the drilling operations concluded in the second quarter of 2022 at the Huron well. The well is located at Green Canyon Block 69 in the Gulf of Mexico where the company operates several platforms.

Greg Hill, Hess Corporation COO and president of exploration and production, noted during a conference call that the GoM remains a very important part of the company’s portfolio despite not delivering headline finds.

The well was drilled in February and the results showed high-quality oil, which, according to Hill, are encouraging signs, particularly for the Northern Green Canyon basin.

What is known for delivering headlines are the company’s developments offshore Guyana with ExxonMobil and CNOOC. The companies are partnering in the Stabroek block, with the gross discovered recoverable resources currently estimated at approximately 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent with multi-billion barrels of exploration potential remaining on the block.

The Liza Phase 1 development delivered its first production in December 2019, less than five years after discovery. Liza Phase 2, sanctioned in May 2019, achieved first oil in February 2022. The third phase of development, at the Payara Field, was sanctioned in September 2020 with the first oil expected in late 2023. The fourth and largest oil development on the block at Yellowtail was sanctioned in April 2022 with first oil expected in 2025.

At the end of last month, Hess also informed that two new discoveries have been made at the Seabob-1 and Kiru-Kiru-1 wells on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

Hill further noted that Hess plans on adding minimum sustained production cash flow through tieback opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico where the company has 80 leased blocks. As for Huron, an appraisal sidetrack is being planned due to the promising results, despite Hill unveiling any pre-drill reserve estimates.

In its second-quarter earnings report, Hess noted that net production from the Gulf of Mexico was 29,000 boepd, compared with 52,000 boepd in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to field decline and unplanned downtime at the Stampede and Penn State fields. For the third quarter, the production is expected to be anywhere between 25,000 boe/d and 35,000 boe/d due to planned downtime at the Tubular Bells production hub and a shut-in of a well at the Penn State field.

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