Deepwater

The plethora of oil and natural gas discoveries in the rich Perdido thrust belt of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has yielded yet another discovery for Royal Dutch Shell plc. Houston-based Shell Offshore Inc. made a “material discovery at the Blacktip North prospect” in U.S. waters. The well encountered about 300 feet net oil…

A federal auction for oil and natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) drew more participants and money than a year ago, but the Biden administration, under court order to hold the sale, pledged that changes still would be made. Lease Sale 257, the eighth offshore auction and first in a year, was…

With Gulf of Mexico (GOM) activity accelerating throughout both U.S. and Mexico waters, Australia’s BHP has given its stamp of approval to spend $258 million to advance the front-end engineering design phase for the Trion project in Mexico’s deepwater. Studies would be centered on completing engineering and commercial arrangements toward potentially sanctioning the project by…

Italy’s Eni SpA has announced another deepwater find in the Sureste Basin in southeastern Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico (GOM), with preliminary estimates indicating 150-200 million boe in place. The estimated resources “reflect that there’s still untapped potential to be brought to market,” Amexhi head Merlin Cochran told NGI’s Mexico GPI. Amexhi is a Mexico private…

BP plc said it has struck oil at the Puma West prospect offshore Louisiana near its Mad Dog platform in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).  The well in Green Canyon Block 821 was drilled by BP, operator and owner of the block, on behalf of co-owners Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Talos Energy Inc., each…

Despite the anti-competitive atmosphere that has pervaded the government of Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, private sector upstream operators that jumped at the chance to enter the country as part of its energy reform continue to show results and tout the potential of Mexico’s oil and gas resources. Last week during a conference call…

South America, driven by Brazil and its vast offshore pre-salt development, has seen deepwater operational expenditure (opex) drop more than any other region this year, according to Rystad Energy. In deepwater, South America is dominated by Brazil. State oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) alone accounted for nearly 88% of South America’s deepwater opex in…

A strengthened outlook for natural gas pricing in 2021 has made the development of natural gas fields in Mexico a more attractive proposition, according to Juan Carlos Zepeda, former head of upstream oil and gas regulator Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH). In a podcast interview with NGI, Zepeda highlighted the central and growing role of…

Oil and natural gas prospects in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) drew bids from 22 operators Wednesday in the latest federal lease sale, with deepwater blocks pulling the most interest.