Successful GOM Drilling Enables Low-Cost Development

U.S. oil and gas company Beacon Offshore has completed the drilling of the Winterfell-2 appraisal well located on Block 943 in the Green Canyon area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The Winterfell-2 well is around 5,800 feet of water and was drilled to a total depth of approximately 28,500 feet.

An affiliate of Beacon Offshore is the operator of the Winterfell-2 well. Kosmos Energy, which is one of the partners in the well, announced the completion of the well on Tuesday.

The Winterfell-2 well was drilled to evaluate the adjacent fault block to the northwest of the original Winterfell discovery and was designed to test two horizons that were oil-bearing in the Winterfell-1 well, with an exploration tail into a deeper horizon.

The well discovered approximately 120 feet of net oil pay in the first and second horizons with better oil saturation and porosity than pre-drill expectations. The exploration tail has discovered an additional oil-bearing horizon in a deeper reservoir which is also prospective in the blocks immediately to the north.

The results of this appraisal well further define the resource potential in the central Winterfell area, with the current estimate around 100 million barrels gross.

Kosmos also said that it farmed down interest in the two blocks immediately to the north of the Winterfell discovery to the owners of the central Winterfell discovery in exchange for cash consideration and the retention of an overriding royalty interest.

This aligns the partnership and provides the ability to further scale the development with low-risk follow-on drilling. The company will retain a 35 percent working interest in the two blocks, which have been significantly de-risked following the results of the Winterfell-1 and Winterfell-2 wells.

The Winterfell complex is located within tie-back distance to several existing and planned host facilities and the partnership is working to define the development plan.

“The positive result from Winterfell-2 appraisal well demonstrates the greater potential in the Winterfell area. The well results are encouraging and provide the support needed to advance a low-cost, lower-carbon development scheme that could be brought online in around two years,” Andrew G. Inglis, Kosmos Energy’s chairman and chief executive officer, said.

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