Seadrill rig wraps up drilling ops on deepwater Gulf of Mexico well

U.S. oil and gas operator LLOG Exploration has completed drilling operations on the third development well for Buckskin, a deepwater oil project located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The well will be brought online a little later than initially expected and at a higher cost.

The Buckskin project is located on Keathley Canyon blocks in water depths of 6,650 ft. The Buckskin partnership is composed of Navitas Buckskin US LLC (7.5 per cent), Buckstone Development Company (28.8 per cent), Repsol (22.5 per cent), Ridgewood Buckskin (8.75 per cent), ILX Prospect Buckskin (8.75 per cent), Beacon Offshore (18.7 per cent), and the operator LLOG Deepwater Development Company (5 per cent).

The partnership approved the drilling to develop the additional reserves in the development well in July 2021 after which the securing of drilling permit from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) followed.

Seadrill’s drillship West Neptune arrived at the drilling location at the northern reservoir of the Buckskin project and started drilling operations in September 2021. Drilling was expected to take 60 days with the first production from the well towards the end of the second quarter of 2022. However, according to information available now, the production from the well has been delayed.

One of the partners, Israel’s Navitas Petroleum, has revealed that the well has been completed and that the West Neptune drillship has left the site following the execution of electrical logs and further well tests.

Based on the initial analysis of data collected during drilling operations, the operator’s estimates reveal that the thickness of the oil-bearing reservoir layers corresponds to pre-drilling estimates.

In addition, the operator expects to begin completion works for the production from the well early in the third quarter of the year. The partnership’s share of all the drilling work increased in relation to the estimates and amounted to about $8 million.

Offshore Energy has reached out to LLOG, seeking further details about its drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico but we are yet to receive a response.

According to Seadrill’s latest fleet status report, the West Neptune drillship has been under contract with LLOG since September 2021. The contract with LLOG included options. As revealed by Seadrill back in November 2021, the first option was exercised, adding $10 million to its backlog, leaving LLOG with one remaining option from May until August 2022.

It is worth reminding that the same drillship was also used for drilling and completing the Buckskin reservoir before the field was brought on stream in June 2019. The initial phase of the project consists of two wells in Keathley Canyon 829 and a six-mile subsea tieback to the Lucius platform at Keathley Canyon 875. The phase one production rate at Buckskin was anticipated to reach 30,000 barrels of oil per day.

Following the contract with LLOG, the drillship is slated to work for Talos Energy, also in the Gulf of Mexico, until November 2022. The contract with Talos will contribute $26 million to Seadrill’s backlog.

In June last year, LLOG brought online the Praline field located in Mississippi Canyon Block 74 in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is tied back to the Talos Energy-operated Pompano platform.