Kosmos Winterfell Appraisal Well Discovers Additional Oil-bearing Horizon

Kosmos Energy completed the drilling of the Winterfell-2 appraisal well, which the Dallas-based company said successfully further defined the resource potential of the Winterfell area in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The positive result from Winterfell-2 appraisal well demonstrates the greater potential in the Winterfell area,” Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and CEO of Kosmos, commented in a company release on Jan. 18.

The Winterfell-2 appraisal well discovered approximately 40 m (120 ft) of net oil pay in the first and second horizons with better oil saturation and porosity than pre-drill expectations. The well also included an exploration tail that discovered an additional oil-bearing horizon in a deeper reservoir which is also prospective in the blocks immediately to the north.

The current estimate of the resource potential in the central Winterfell area is around 100 million barrels gross, according to the release.

“The well results are encouraging and provide the support needed to advance a low-cost, lower-carbon development scheme that could be brought online in around two years,” Inglis added.

Winterfell-2 is located in approximately 1,600 m (5,800 ft) of water and was drilled to a total depth of approximately 8,700 m (28,500 ft).

The appraisal well was drilled on Block 943 in the Green Canyon area, which is an adjacent fault block to the northwest of the original Winterfell discovery. The well was designed to test two horizons that were oil-bearing in the Winterfell-1 well with an exploration tail into a deeper horizon.

Kosmos holds about 16.4% working interest in the Winterfell-2 well. An affiliate of Beacon Offshore Energy LLC is operator of the Winterfell-2 well. Additional interest owners include Red Willow Offshore LLC, Ridgewood Monarch North LLC, CSL Exploration LP, CL&F Offshore LLC, Houston Energy LP, Beacon Offshore Energy Exploration LLC and Beacon Asset Holdings LLC.

Also on Jan. 18, Kosmos said it separately farmed down an interest in the two blocks immediately to the north of the Winterfell discovery to the owners of the central Winterfell discovery in exchange for cash consideration and the retention of an overriding royalty interest.

Kosmos will retain a 35% working interest in the two blocks, which have been significantly de-risked following the results of the Winterfell-1 and Winterfell-2 wells. The company said the farm-out aligns the partnership and provides the ability to further scale the development with low-risk follow-on drilling.

The Winterfell complex is located within tie back distance to several existing and planned host facilities and the partnership is working to define the development plan, the company release added.