Nexen Inc. today reported that drilling operations are complete on the Kakuna sub-salt exploration well on Green Canyon block 504 located approximately 180 miles southwest of New Orleans in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The well did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons, and is now in the process of being plugged and abandoned. Kakuna was drilled to a depth of 30,300 feet at a total cost of approximately $120 million, net to Nexen ($80 million after-tax).
Nexen is the operator of Kakuna with 72.5 %, while Statoil owns the remaining 27,5 %. Norway’s oil giant Statoil farmed into the Kakuna prospect in June 2011.
Nexen owns a broad inventory of exploration prospects in the Gulf of Mexico, including the sub-salt Miocene play in the central Gulf of Mexico and the Norphlet play surrounding our Appomattox discoveries.
The company’s 2012 exploration program includes approximately 15 offshore exploration and appraisal wells in the UK North Sea, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, May 7, 2012; Image: Statoil