Goldfinger gives Dominion second tieback opportunity at Devils Tower

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

New Orleans-based Dominion Exploration & Production, which announced an oil discovery at its Goldfinger prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, also said April 14 the find likely would be completed as a subsea tieback to the nearby Devils Tower production spar in Mississippi Canyon.

The Goldfinger discovery well, on Mississippi Canyon Block 771, was drilled in 5,423 feet of water and encountered 57 net feet of oil bearing sand about 15,000 feet below sea level, Dominion said. The well was temporarily abandoned.

Goldfinger represents the second subsea tieback prospect drilled by Dominion near the Devils Tower spar. The Triton discovery on Mississippi Canyon Block 772 was drilled in 2002 and successfully appraised on Block 728 in 2003.

A three-well subsea development system is being evaluated to connect the discoveries to the Devils Tower host platform, Dominion said. The Devils Tower spar is scheduled to begin production in the second quarter of this year, following commissioning of the export pipelines and well completions.

Dominion said the Triton-Goldfinger project could be completed and producing through the spar by late 2005 or early 2006, depending on available processing capacity.

Dominion owns a 75 percent working interest and is operator of Devils Tower, Triton and Goldfinger. Pioneer Natural Resources owns the remaining 25 percent interest in the project.