Anadarko strikes oil

Another oil strike: Deepwater Gulf K2 North well expands field by 2 miles

Petroleum News

Anadarko Petroleum keeps racking up the discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, this time with an oil find the big Houston independent said “significantly expands” the hydrocarbon boundaries of its 52.5 percent owned K2 field.

In this case, however, Anadarko happens to own 100 percent of Green Canyon Block 518, on which the K2 North discovery was made. The company said Nov. 17 that it would immediately drill another well on the block following its recent find.

Anadarko and its partners have drilled three successful wells in the K2 field on Green Canyon Block 562, one block south of Block 518. The latest discovery extends the field two miles north, the company said.

“This discovery opens up even more reserve potential on the (518) block,” said Mark Pease, vice president of Anadarko’s U.S. offshore and onshore operations. He said the company owns other prospects in the area that include Genghis Khan, another 100 percent owned Anadarko prospect that could be drilled early next year.

The K2 North exploration well, including a water depth of 4,000 feet, was drilled to a depth of 26,700 feet and is the deepest offshore well drilled in Anadarko’s history. The subsalt well encountered 128 feet of net oil pay in the same zone present at Anadarko’s K2 discovery.

Reserve estimates for K2 North were not disclosed, although Anadarko said in May after announcing results from another K2 well that the field could be larger than the initial 100-million barrel estimate. However, while K2 North appears to be commercial, it also appears to be too small to justify a standalone development.

That’s because Anadarko said it expects K2 North to come on-line as early as 2005 through a subsea tieback to the $224-million Marco Polo tension leg platform on Green Canyon Block 608, which is currently being installed with first production scheduled for March or early April 2004. The platform can handle up to of 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 300,000 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. Anadarko made its first deepwater Gulf discovery at Marco Polo in 2000.

“By going back through Marco Polo, Green Canyon 518 will come on production much sooner with stronger economics than using a more traditional development strategy,” Pease said.

In addition to Marco Polo and K2 in the Central Gulf, Anadarko this year has announced deepwater discoveries in the Eastern Gulf at Jubilee, Atlas and just recently, Spiderman.