Deepwater Gulf’s K2 North produces another 165 feet of net oil pay for Anadarko

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

Anadarko Petroleum has found another 165 feet of net oil pay at its 100 percent owned K2 North satellite discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, greatly expanding the field’s size and firmly establishing it as a commercial discovery.

The K2 North field, on Green Canyon block 518, is now expected to begin production through the nearby Marco Polo platform in 2005, Anadarko said June 2, noting that the field’s oil-water contact has yet to be established.

“We have yet to determine the field limits, but the delineation well extends the discovery significantly,” said Jim Hackett, Anadarko’s chief executive officer.

The well’s bottom-hole location is about one mile northwest of Anadarko’s K2 North No. 1 discovery, which was announced in November 2003.

The K2 North exploration well, including a water depth of 4,000 feet, was drilled to a depth of 26,700 feet and was 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 the K2 North field have not been disclosed. But the initial exploration well extended the K2 field two miles north.

The No. 2 well was spud in December 2003 in about 4,000 feet of water and was drilled to a total depth of 29,180 feet. The semi-submersible rig remains on location to further delineate the field, Anadarko said.

“This well also has positive implications for the neighboring K2 field,” Hackett said. Anadarko holds a 52.5 percent interest in that field.

The K2 field also will be tied back to the Marco Polo platform with first production expected next year. Anadarko said it is currently completing the first of six pre-drilled development wells from its Marco Polo field, which is on schedule for first production in July 2004.

The Marco Polo platform was designed to handle up to of 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. Anadarko made its first deepwater Gulf discovery at Marco Polo in 2000.