Oklahoma’s Kerr-McGee has kicked off its 2004 drilling season in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico with an oil discovery at the Ticonderoga prospect on Green Canyon Block 768.
If deemed commercial, Ticonderoga could be tied back as a satellite to Kerr-McGee’s Constitution development, the company said April 19. The prospect is in roughly 5,250 feet of water and about five miles south of Constitution.
The Ticonderoga exploratory well and an initial sidetrack encountered 250 feet of net “high-quality” hydrocarbon pay, mainly oil, in three separate zones, Kerr-McGee said. The field “offers potential resources” of 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.
The company said it is currently performing reservoir modeling, with plans for additional appraisal work this year. The Ticonderoga well was spud on March 21 and drilled to a total measured depth of 13,556 feet using the offshore Amos Runner drilling rig. A sidetrack confirmed the down-dip limit of this reservoir, the company said.
The discovery well was operated by Kerr-McGee with a 50 percent interest in the discovery. Fellow exploration and production independent Noble Energy holds the remaining 50 percent interest.
Constitution would be hub
“Consistent with our strategy of creating hubs in core areas, our nearby Constitution facility would allow for the successful development of Ticonderoga, which would further enhance the original economics of the Constitution project,” said Dave Hager, Kerr-McGee senior vice president responsible for oil and gas exploration and production.Earlier this year Kerr-McGee approved development of its 100 percent owned Constitution field on Green Canyon blocks 679 and 680, creating the company’s sixth deepwater hub in the Gulf of Mexico.
Constitution has estimated proven and probable resources of roughly 110 million barrels of oil equivalent. The total project costs, including $125 million spent on leases and drilling, would be about $600 million.
Constitution would be developed with a truss spar similar in design to Kerr-McGee’s previous three truss spars. Like the Nansen, Boomvang and Gunnison spars, the Constitution spar will have capacity to process 40,000 barrels of oil per day and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day. The hull will be 98 feet in diameter and about 550 feet long. It will be built by Technip at its Pori, Finland yard, where the hulls for Kerr-McGee’s Neptune, Nansen, Boomvang and Gunnison spars were fabricated.
“Constitution is the next milestone in our successful deepwater exploration and development program,” said Luke R. Corbett, Kerr-McGee’s chief executive officer.
In a similar-type hub project, the company said drilling activities have ended at the Dawson Deep prospect and it is being evaluated as a possible sub-sea tieback to Kerr-McGee’s producing Gunnison facility. Dawson Deep is located about three miles from Gunnison on Garden Banks 625.
Ticonderoga was the first of about 10 exploration wells Kerr-McGee plans to spud over the next few months in deepwater Gulf of Mexico. They include Tin Cup near the Gunnison field on Green Canyon Block 582, a potential 40 million barrel satellite, and the Chilkoot wildcat on Green Canyon Block 320.
the sale for tracts on which bids are received.
Leasing has been stayed on number of Cook Inlet tracts identified by the National Marine Fisheries Service as important habitat for beluga whales by order of Alaska Superior Court Judge Sigurd Murphy. These tracts will be included in future Cook Inlet areawide lease sales only upon a supplemental finding by DNR that there is a plan in place to address concerns over beluga habitat, and that a sale of these tracts is in the best interest of the state.
DNR has also withdrawn tracts 284, 285, 485, 486, 488 and 489 from the areawide 2001 sale. These tracts are involved in litigation contesting actions taken by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission or the Division of Oil and Gas and leasing of these tracts is stayed pending final rulings in these cases.
The cash bonus bid minimum for both sales is $5 per acre. The royalty is 12.5 percent. Leases will have a term of 10 years.
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