ConocoPhillips turns up gulf discovery at deepwater Lorien prospect

Petroleum News Houston staff

After a lengthy five months of drilling, the Lorien prospect in deepwater Gulf of Mexico has produced a discovery, operator ConocoPhillips said July 21.

The company offered little information about the discovery’s size, although partner Noble Energy said in a conference call July 23 that Lorien “fits in to” Noble’s pre-drill estimate of 14 to 65 million barrels of oil equivalent. ConocoPhillips reportedly had a pre-drill estimate of up to 150 million barrels.

ConocoPhillips did say that the Lorien exploration well, located on Green Canyon Block 199, encountered 120 feet of hydrocarbons in a “high-quality reservoir.” The well was temporarily suspended at a vertical depth of 18,703 feet while ConocoPhillips examines drilling results.

Because of Lorien’s close proximity to existing platforms and pipelines, the field likely would be a candidate for a subsea tieback, Noble CEO Chuck Davidson said. “It does look like it’s going to be commercial as a subsea tieback,” he said.

Lorien was spud on Feb. 16 and drilling was suspended earlier this month, ConocoPhillips said.ConocoPhillips holds a 65 percent stake in Lorien, followed by Noble with a 20 percent interest, Norsk Hydro E&P Americas with a 10 percent interest, and small independent Davis Offshore with a 5 percent interest.