Mexico’s first private offshore well hits 1 billion barrels

Houston-based oil and gas company Talos Energy has made what it claims to be a world class, historic oil discovery of more than a billion barrels, offshore Mexico. 

The discovery was made at the Zama-1 exploration well in Block 7, operated by Talos which holds a 35% participation interest, with Premier Oil and Sierra Oil & Gas as its partners with 25% and 40% participation interests, respectively.

The Zama-1 well is the first offshore exploration well drilled by the private sector in Mexico’s history.

According to Premier’s statement on Wednesday, preliminary analysis indicates initial gross original oil in place estimates for the Zama-1 well are in excess of 1 billion barrels, which could extend into a neighboring block; a contiguous gross oil bearing interval of over 335 meters (1,100 feet), with up to 200 meters (650 feet) of net oil bearing reservoir in Upper Miocene sandstones with no water contact; and initial tests of hydrocarbon samples recovered to the surface contain light oil, with API gravities between 28° and 30° and some associated gas.

The well spudded on May 21, 2017, utilizing the Ensco 8503, a moored floating drilling rig. Located in 166 meters (546 feet) of water and approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) offshore Dos Bocas, it has reached an initial shallow target depth of 3,383 meters (11,100 feet). The operator is currently setting a liner to protect the discovered reservoirs, prior to drilling deeper exploratory objectives to a total vertical depth of approximately 4,200 meters (14,000 feet).

Tim Duncan, Talos President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is both a historic and significant discovery, and we could not be more proud of the highly skilled personnel from Mexico and the US who have been working together in a safe and efficient manner to make it a reality.”

Duncan also added: “We are eager to begin appraising this discovery and drilling more unique opportunities. The future is bright for offshore Mexico for years to come.”

Tony Durrant, Premier Oil Chief Executive, commented: “We have encountered a very substantial oil bearing interval which indicates over 1 billion barrels of oil in place, a commercial standalone development which adds materially to Premier’s portfolio of assets worldwide. It is particularly pleasing that our strategy of focusing our exploration portfolio on high impact opportunities in proven but under-drilled basins has led to this world class discovery with our first well in Mexico.

“The oil discovered in the Zama-1 well is an extremely important event for Premier, the joint venture and for Mexico and we look forward to working with the Government and our partners to realizeu the full potential of this exciting discovery.”