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Unocal makes strike at St. Malo with over 450 feet of net oil pay
Petroleum News
Operator Unocal and its partners have turned up an oil discovery at their St. Malo prospect that appears to rival some of the largest finds in deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The discovery well, located on Walker Ridge Block 678, is said to have encountered more than 450 feet of net oil pay over a gross hydrocarbon column of 1,400 feet, “indicating that St. Malo is a major hydrocarbon accumulation,” Unocal partner Devon Energy said Oct. 29.
Reserve estimates were not provided by the St. Malo partners. Unocal said an appraisal well is planned next year to further evaluate and gauge the discovery’s size.
“The potential volumes at St. Malo give us the confidence to call this discovery a significant milestone in our Gulf of Mexico deepwater program,” said Mike Bell, vice president of Unocal’s Deepwater USA unit. Similar to Cascade discovery Both the net pay and gross hydrocarbon column encountered by the St. Malo discovery well are comparable in size to such big deepwater gulf finds as Tahiti, Atlantis, Mad Dog, Neptune and Cascade. Tahiti alone contains an estimated 400 to 500 million barrels of equivalent reserves.
In fact, Michael Lacey, Devon’s senior vice president of exploration and production, said that “St. Malo is in the same area and a similar play concept to our 2002 Cascade discovery” on Walker Ridge Block 206.
Cascade is thought to contain more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Cascade also is said to be important because it penetrated the deep Eocene section, where it encountered a hydrocarbon column that one of the partners characterized as a “potentially significant” discovery.
The St. Malo well spud on July 6 and was drilled to a total depth of 29,066 feet in 100 days at an estimated total cost of $62 million, Unocal said. The well is located in 6,900 feet of water about 250 miles southwest of New Orleans. It was drilled from the Discoverer Spirit drillship.
Upon completion of the St. Malo well, the Discoverer Spirit will be released to move on to the ExxonMobil Hawkes appraisal well in Mississippi Canyon 508, Unocal said.
“St. Malo represents a valuable addition to our portfolio of discoveries, and we have excellent leverage in this emerging play with a robust portfolio of projects and leads in the Keathley Canyon, Green Canyon and Walker Ridge areas,” Unocal’s Bell said.
Unocal holds a 28.75 percent interest in St. Malo. Petrobras has a 25 percent stake, followed by Devon with a 22.5 percent interest, ChevronTexaco with a 12.5 percent interest, EnCana with a 6.25 percent interest, ExxonMobil with a 3.75 percent interest, and Eni Petroleum with a 1.25 stake.
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