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Dawson Deep prospect looks commercial Appraisal drilling extends oil column by 600 feet; Dawson is Kerr-McGee’s deepest Gulf of Mexico well Ray Tyson Petroleum News Houston Correspondent
It now appears Kerr-McGee and partners may have a commercial discovery at their Dawson Deep prospect on Garden Banks Block 625 in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Operator Kerr-McGee is not ready to discuss reservoir size pending further evaluation. But preliminary results from a sidetrack drilled to a measured depth of 27,953 and a vertical depth of 25,940 feet and to a point about a half-mile northeast of the initial discovery well are encouraging indeed.
The Dawson Deep No. 2 Sidetrack No. 1 appraisal well, the deepest drilled by Kerr-McGee in the Gulf of Mexico, not only encountered hydrocarbons in several sand intervals, but extended the Dawson Deep oil column down dip by an impressive 600 feet plus, Kerr-McGee disclosed in a March 24 conference call with analysts.
“Logging and evaluation activities are currently under way,” said Rick Buterbaugh, Kerr-McGee’s head of investor relations. “We are encouraged both geologically and operationally by the results to date on this prospect.”
He said Dawson Deep is a “potentially commercial reservoir” that could be tied back to the company’s Gunnison facility just three miles away. Gunnison was recently brought on line producing 3,600 barrels per day of oil and 125 million cubic feet of natural gas, with peak daily rates of 30,000 barrels of oil and 180 million cubic feet of gas expected by year-end when field development is completed. Gunnison is some 150 miles offshore Texas in more than 2,900 feet of water.
“The results of the Dawson Deep prospect will provide valuable insight to other satellite prospects which surround the Gunnison facility,” Buterbaugh said.
Kerr-McGee holds a 25 percent working interest in Dawson Deep. Fellow independent McMoRan and its partner own a 50 percent working interest, followed by Canada’s Nexen with 15 percent and CalDive with the remaining 10 percent. Sidetrack targeted to intervals in initial well McMoRan said the Dawson Deep sidetrack was specifically targeted to intercept intervals encountered in the initial well at a down dip position, adding that a zone pointing to an oil bearing sand at 22,568 feet in the original hole was intercepted in the appraisal well and roughly 600 feet below the original hole.
Log analysis and tests point to a 120 foot single sand interval with 90 feet of true vertical depth of oil indicating a potential commercial reservoir, McMoRan said. Information gained from the original and appraisal wells on Garden Banks Block 625, along with the information from Kerr-McGee’s Garden Banks Block 669 No. 2 Dawson well, will be analyzed and integrated with new seismic that is expected by the operator in May, the company said.
“A study of the data … will determine if there is an optimum location in this potentially productive oil reservoir to select a ‘take point’ in the possible 700 feet of oil column and further evaluate the multiple hydrocarbon shows in the Garden Banks Block 625 and Garden Banks 669 wells,” McMoRan said.
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