Transocean sets deepwater record

Transocean drillship Discoverer Deep Seas has set a new deepwater record with a well spud Nov. 16 for ChevronTexaco at the Toledo prospect on Alaminos Canyon Block 951 in the Gulf of Mexico, Transocean said. At a water depth of 10,011 feet, Transocean became the first offshore driller in the world to break the 10,000-foot barrier.

Transocean beat its own previous world record by 284 feet, set in October 2001 at Unocal’s Trident prospect near Toledo on Alaminos Canyon Block 903. That well was drilled in 9,727 feet of water using the Discoverer Spirit and resulted in a significant discovery.

Toledo, 222 miles south of Galveston, Texas, has a pre-drill reserve estimate of 150 million barrels of oil equivalent, with upside of 275 million barrels, according to partner Devon Energy. Estimated total depth of the well, including the water depth, is 24,000 feet. Well cost was pegged at $38 million, Devon said.

The Toledo exploration well represents Transocean’s 19th world depth record, as industry has moved into deeper waters worldwide. In 1974, the water depth record was 1,969 feet. That jumped to 5,624 feet in 1982, to 7,612 feet in 1996, and to over 10,000 feet in 2003 with Transocean’s Toledo well.