Wintershall, partners make “significant” oil discovery offshore Mexico
(WO) – Operator Wintershall Dea and its partners, Harbour Energy and Sapura OMV, have made a significant oil discovery on the Kan exploration prospect in Block 30, located in shallow waters of the Cuenca Salina in the Sureste Basin, offshore Mexico. Based on preliminary estimates, the discovery may contain 200 to 300 MMboe in place.
Kan is the first of two commitment wells of Block 30. The Kan prospect is located about 25 km off the Tabasco coast in water depth of around 50 m, and within a zone of several Miocene discoveries including the world class Zama discovery and the Polok and Chinwol discoveries, where Wintershall Dea holds significant working interests.
The Kan well, drilled by the Borr Ran rig, reached a total depth of 3,317 m and found more than 170 m net pay sands of Upper Miocene with good petrophysical properties and high-quality oil. An updip sidetrack down to 3,087 m was carried out, and additionally approximately 250 m cores across the main reservoir sands were recovered.
The Block 30 consortium will evaluate the extensive subsurface data collection in order to prepare the Kan discovery appraisal plan, to be submitted to Mexico’s Hydrocarbon Agency CNH (Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos) before end of July 2023.
After the Kan-1EXP well and the sidetrack were completed, the Borr Ran rig was moved to a second prospect to be drilled at Wintershall Dea’s Block 30, namely Ix, located approximately 20 kilometers northeast of the Kan discovery.
“This important discovery at Wintershall Dea’s first own-operated exploration well offshore Mexico is a great success”, says Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board member responsible for global exploration. “It was one of the most contested blocks of Mexico’s bid round 3.1 back in 2018. The successful Kan discovery confirms the attractiveness of Block 30, complementing Wintershall Dea’s outstanding Mexican license portfolio,” Dijkgraaf underlines.
Operator Wintershall Dea holds 40% in Block 30, with Harbour Energy and Sapura OMV holding each 30%.
Wintershall Dea set foot in Mexico in 2017. The company has started exploring for and producing hydrocarbons in Mexico in 2018.
With a 50% share, Wintershall Dea has been operator of the producing onshore Ogarrio oil field since 2018. The Mexican state company, Pemex, is a partner and holds the remaining shares.
Furthermore, Wintershall Dea holds 37% in the producing offshore Block Hokchi, which currently produces around 27,000 boepd. Wintershall Dea is the second largest shareholder in the world-class Zama discovery, after Pemex. In addition, Wintershall Dea has material interests in ten offshore exploration blocks located in the Gulf of Mexico, three of them as operator.
