Gulf Coast

?1 Shell Oil Co. has set a world water-depth record in drilling and completing a subsea oil well in 9,356 ft. of water in Silvertip Field at the Perdido Development project in the Gulf of Mexico. The SA #1 (BP) OCS G19409 was drilled to an unreported total depth in the central portion of Alaminos Canyon Block 815. The Perdido record is 35% deeper than the previous record set by Shell at a subsea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico’s Fourier Field. At Perdido, Shell also intends to drill in 9,627 ft. of water at Tobago Field.
Perdido Development will encompass 35 wells (22 direct vertical-access and 13 remote) in Great White, Tobago and Silvertip fields, all in Alaminos Canyon. Moored in about 8,000 ft. of water, the drilling and production facility will be the deepest in the world. First production from Perdido is expected within the next three years and the facility will be capable of handling 130,000 bbl. of oil equivalent per day. Shell will have to install 77 miles of oil pipelines and 107 miles of gas export pipelines. The development is jointly owned by Shell (35%), Chevron (37.5%), and BP (27.5%).

2 ExxonMobil Corp. has submitted a development plan to drill in the deepwater East Breaks/Alaminos Canyon area. As part of the company’s Rockefeller project, it will drill from a surface location in the northwestern portion of Alaminos Canyon Block 24 in 4,848 ft. of water to reach East Breaks Block 992. A planned production well will be tied back to Exxon’s Hoover platform on Alaminos Canyon Block 25, located about five miles from the company’s Block 24 drillsite. Exxon acquired the exploration rights to East Breaks Block 990, 991, and 992 in 2001.

3 Chesapeake Operating Inc. reports two Haynes­ville shale producers in Johnson Branch Field in Caddo Parish, La. The #1 Bledsoe Properties 30-16-14H flowed 7.6 million cu. ft. of gas and 182 bbl. of water per day through fracture-treated perforations at 11,800-16,147 ft. On a 20/64-in. choke, flowing casing pressure was gauged at 3,400 psi. Located in Section 30-16n-14w, the new producer was drilled to a total depth of 16,268 ft. The Oklahoma City-based operator’s #1 Bison 31-16-14H is two miles south in Section 31. On a 20/64-in. choke with a flowing casing pressure of 4,685 psi, it was tested flowing 10.6 million cu. ft. of gas and 213 bbl. of water daily through fracture-treated perforations at 11,725-16,307 ft. It was drilled to a total measured depth of 16,408 ft. and true vertical depth of 11,640 ft.

4 IHS Inc. reports that Frisco, Texas-based Comstock Resources Inc. has completed a horizontal Haynesville shale well in DeSoto Parish, La. The #1?BSMC LA 7 HZ?is in Section 7-10n-14w in Toledo Bend North Field and was drilled to a true vertical depth of 11,750 ft. with a horizontal lateral of 4,300 ft. A 10-stage fracture treatment has been run, and the well is currently flowing at an initial daily rate of approximately 9 million cu. ft. of gas equivalent through perforations at 11,740-13,700 ft. and 13,840-15,790 ft.

5 Gordy Oil’s #1 Excalibur Land Co. is a 13,121-ft. vertical well that was completed flowing 2 million cu. ft. of gas, 120 bbl. of 48.6-degree condensate and 5 bbl. of water daily. Production is through perforations at 12,817-41 ft. in Hackberry. The Houston-based company reported that the flowing tubing pressure was 8,818 psi on a 10/64-in. choke. The new producer is located in Manchester South Field in Section 23-10s-7w, in eastern Calcasieu Parish, La.

6 Deepwater wildcats in Keathley Canyon are the next move for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. The company has filed an exploration plan on its Dunkirk Prospect, for Block 470 in 6,053 ft. of water. Lower Tertiary tests are scheduled for various sites on the tract. The drilling rights to the tract were originally acquired in 2000 by another operator. The Dunkirk prospect is located in the Lower Tertiary trend in the Alaminos Canyon, Keathley Canyon, and Walker Ridge areas of the central Gulf of Mexico. Twelve miles north-northwest of the prospect is the only Keathley Canyon tract to receive a field designation from the Minerals Management Service. Block 292, known as Kaskida Field, received its designation in 2006 after BP hit 800 net ft. of hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Lower Tertiary trend; in January 2007, a sidetrack was suspended at 29,860 ft.

7 In Erwinville Field, in the western portion of West Baton Rouge Parish, La., a Cockfield well has been completed by Bossier City-based TMR Exploration Inc. The #2 Wilberts A Sons LLC 88 is located two miles from Rosedale, La., and had an initial daily flow rate of 240 bbl. of 46-degree crude and 240,000 cu. ft. of gas from an openhole interval from 9,619-11,450 ft. On a 19/64-in. choke, flowing and shut-in tubing pressures were gauged at 1,700 psi and 2,650 psi, respectively. Located in Section 88-7s-10e, the producer was drilled to a total depth of 11,776 ft. and true vertical depth of 10,433 ft.

8 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has planned two tests for Walker Ridge Block 52, a deepwater tract known as the Shenandoah prospect.?According to Anadarko, Lower Tertiary tests are slated for separate surface locations in the western half of the block. Water depth is 5,808 ft. Anadarko is currently drilling a wildcat in the block’s northwestern portion. Its #1 (BP2) OCS G20259 was spudded in November 2008 and is slated to bottom to the north on Walker Ridge Block 8. Two previous wellbores were drilled to undisclosed depths earlier this year.?Anadarko’s headquarters are in The Woodlands, Texas.

9 Walter Oil & Gas Co. of Houston has filed for a permit in Eugene Island Block 290. The company’s #1 OCS G31376 surface location is in the northern part of Block 290. Water depth in the area is 205 ft. Block 290 was acquired by Walter in October 2007.?Previously, only one test has been drilled on the block. The closest production comes from the bottom-hole location of the #A-3 OCS G03408 on Eugene Island Block 311, about two miles south. One other well in Block 311 produced 1.63 billion cu. ft. of gas, 28,559 bbl. of condensate and 151,019 bbl. of water.

10 Exploration plans for up to four tests on Chandeleur Block 43 have been submitted by San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron USA Inc. The company is scheduling tests for various surface locations on the tract, beginning in the northern portion of the block in 130 ft. of water. Chevron purchased several Chandeleur area blocks including blocks 42 and 44. The nearest previous drilling is on Chandeleur Block 37, about two miles northwest of Chevron’s first planned wildcat. There, #2 OCS G05743 was abandoned in 1988 at a total depth of 3,550 ft. in Miocene. Chevron’s corporate headquarters are in San Ramon, Calif.

11 IHS Inc. reports that Fort Worth-based Encore Operating Louisiana LLC has completed a horizontal Tuscaloosa discovery in the northwestern portion of South Louisiana’s St. Helena Parish. The #1 Weyerhaeuser, in irregular Section 60-1s-4e, was tested flowing 323 bbl. of crude, 1,000 cu. ft. of gas and 360 bbl. of water per day through perforations at 14,750-16,703 ft. Flowing casing and shut-in tubing pressures were gauged at 3,100 psi and 3,800 psi, respectively, on a 12/64-in. choke. The producer was dr?illed to a total depth of 17,035 ft.