Spanish IOC Repsol’s foray into Mexican waters has paid good dividends, nailing impressive offshore hydrocarbon discoveries on their first two tries.
Location of Repsol’s Polok-1EXP and Chinwol-1EXP wells offshore Mexico.
Spanish IOC Repsol’s foray into Mexican waters has paid good dividends, nailing impressive discoveries on their first two tries, drilled back-to-back 12 km apart in 600m of water on Sureste Basin Block 29. Polok-1EXP TD’d at 2,620m in April 2020 and logged over 200m net oil pay from two high permeability Lower Miocene sand zones, followed by Chinwol-1EXP, which TD’d at 1,850m in early May, finding more than 150m net oil pay from three excellent Lower Pliocene sand zones. Both wells sit in a region of high quality post-salt Neogene clastic objectives on salt-induced structures with strong AVO support.
Until Mexico opened up in 2015, Pemex was the sole player in this prolific region, establishing an impressive track record. In the second and third bid rounds Repsol won three deepwater and three shelf blocks in three basins as operator and is justifiably proud, as these discoveries are the first from deepwater Round 2.4, held just 29 months ago. Despite stellar geology, success is not a certainty in this basin; savvy operators Eni and Cairn have recently drilled dry holes, and Shell released a vessel on a deepwater well with no announcement. Reservoir presence and seal are the primary risk, followed by charge, as discussed in GEO ExPro Vol. 17, No. 2.
Repsol will next drill Juum-1EXP in the rank frontier deepwater Cordilleras basin Block 10 off central Mexico. Going three-for-consecutive-three just over two years after a new-country entry would be truly an impressive achievement.
Further Reading on Hydrocarbon Exploration in Mexico
Mexico’s Energy Reform
Aruna Mannie, Premier Oil
Five years on, what has Mexico’s energy reform delivered for the country’s oil and gas exploration and production ambitions?
This article appeared in Vol. 17, No. 2 – 2020
Extraordinary Hydrocarbon Play Systems Identified Offshore Mexico
Karyna Rodriguez and Neil Hodgson, Geoscience Team; Searcher
Improvements in seismic processing are revealing huge offshore oil and gas potential in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
This article appeared in Vol. 17, No. 2 – 2020
Oil and Gas Exploration Opportunities in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
Jeroen Hoogeveen and Jennifer Masy; MultiClient Geophysical AS (MCG)
Depth modelling using several algorithms has significantly improved salt imaging in the Bay of Campeche, revealing greater insight into the oil and gas opportunities in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
This article appeared in Vol. 17, No. 1 – 2020
