U.S.-based oil and gas Kosmos Energy has informed of an oil discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at the Winterfell infrastructure-led exploration well.
Kosmos said on Tuesday that Winterfell was designed to test a sub-salt Upper Miocene prospect located in Green Canyon Block 944. The well encountered approximately 26 metres of net oil pay in two intervals.
The Winterfell well is located in approximately 1,600 metres of water and was drilled to a total depth of approximately 7,000 metres.
An affiliate of Beacon Offshore Energy is the operator of the Winterfell well. Additional interest owners include Red Willow Offshore, Ridgewood Monarch North, CSL Exploration, LP, CL&F Offshore, Houston Energy, LP, Beacon Offshore Energy Exploration, and Beacon Asset Holdings.
Kosmos, which holds a 17.5 per cent working interest, will now work with partners on an appraisal plan and development options. The discovery is located within tie-back distance to several existing and planned host facilities.
Andrew G. Inglis , Kosmos Energy’s chairman and CEO said: “ We are pleased to have started the New Year with exploration success at Winterfell validating our proven basin exploration strategy, which is focused on low cost, short cycle, low carbon development solutions.
“ The Winterfell well was funded by a portion of the proceeds from the partial sale of our frontier exploration portfolio. The well in Green Canyon Block 944 de-risks prospectivity in several neighbouring blocks held by Kosmos, with approximately 100 million barrels of gross potential within Kosmos’ acreage position “.
According to the company’s statement, Kosmos also plans to drill the Zora ILX well in the Gulf of Mexico later in the year.
In recent company news, Kosmos stated that it closed the farm down of its interests in Suriname, Sao Tome & Principe, and Namibia to Shell for approximately $95 million, plus future contingent payments of up to $100 million.
Kosmos held stakes in six blocks offshore Sao Tome & Príncipe – Blocks 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Shell was already its partner in Blocks 6 and 11.
The company also held stakes in Block 42 and 45 in Suriname and one each in Namibia and South Africa. In the latter two, Shell is the operator of the block with a 45 per cent stake.