W&T Offshore, an independent oil and natural gas producer, announced on Tuesday a discovery at the Ewing Banks 954 A-8 exploratory well located in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The well, which recently reached total depth, represents the second discovery in a two-well drilling program from the EW 910 platform.
This second well follows the earlier discovery at the ST 320 A-5 well in May 2015, which was also drilled from the EW 910 platform. W&T is the operator of EW 910 field and owns a 50% working interest in the well.
According to W&T, the EW 954 A-8 well penetrated a total of 150 feet of measured depth hydrocarbon pay contained in two sands. Completion operations are currently underway with a planned two-zone completion. Following facility tie-in, the first production is expected during the first quarter of 2016, W&T said.
Although no well-flow tests have been conducted, based on formation evaluation data, the company says it currently anticipates producing the well from the two zones at a restrained gross rate of approximately 2,300 Boe per day.
Tracy Krohn , W&T Offshore’s Chairman and CEO, stated, “Based on our seismic analysis, we had high expectations for the reserve potential of the EW 954 A-8 exploration well, and we are delighted that the well appears to have exceeded our pre-drill estimates. We are especially pleased with the high quality pay sands found in the A-8 well, which should allow for higher reserve recovery.
“This discovery also helps de-risk several additional opportunities we have identified as part of our future plans to drill and develop the area. With this discovery we have extended our track record of 100% exploration success with the drill bit to almost three years.”