bp discovers oil in deepwater Gulf of Mexico
- bp has discovered oil at the Gulf of Mexico Far South prospect 120 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
- Both the initial well and a subsequent sidetrack encountered oil in high-quality Miocene reservoirs.
bp plc discovered oil at the Far South prospect 120 miles off the coast of Louisiana in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The exploration well was drilled in Green Canyon Block 584 to a total depth of 23,830 ft. Both the initial well and a subsequent sidetrack encountered oil in high-quality Miocene reservoirs. Preliminary data supports a potentially commercial volume of hydrocarbons.
Far South field is 4 miles north of Constellation field in 4,092 ft of water.
The Gulf of Mexico is 'central' to the company's strategy as it plans to build its capacity to over 400,000 boe/d by the end of the decade, said Andy Krieger, bp's senior vice-president, Gulf of America and Canada.
bp expects to grow its global upstream production to 2.3–2.5 MMboe in 2030, with the capacity to increase production out to 2035. Around 1 MMboe/d are expected to be delivered from the US onshore and offshore regions by 2030, the company said.
As part of the effort, the operator is increasing its exploration program with about 40 wells planned over the next 3 years, with 10-15 wells to be drilled in 2025.
bp is operator at Far South (57.5%) with partner Chevron USA Inc. (42.5%).
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
