Byron set for Cutthroat well in Gulf of Mexico

Byron Energy is preparing to drill the SM58 011 well and test the Cutthroat prospect located on its operated SM58 lease in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

In an update last Thursday, August 1, 2019, Byron said that tugboats had been mobilized to meet the Enterprise 263 drilling rig and tow it to an open water location on Byron Energy’s SM58 lease.

The rig will be used to spud the SM58 011 well and test Byron’s Cuthroat prospect. Towing operations were expected to begin at 0600 hours (USCDT) on August 1, 2019, and were expected to take about 24 hours.

Byron added that the proposed well would target the highly productive normally pressured O Sands which account for about half of the 35 million barrels of oil produced on SM58 since production began in 1964. The SM58 011 well will be operated by Byron and will be drilled to a depth of 11,466 feet Measured Depth (MD) (10,418 feet true vertical depth) and is expected to take approximately one month to drill and evaluate from the time the rig is on location.

The Cutthroat prospect lies up-dip to the Shell SM58 9ST1 well that logged over 500 feet of high quality, wet O Sands in 1988. Byron’s in-house prospective resources for Cutthroat are calculated at 7.8 million barrels of oil (mmbo) and 18 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, on a gross basis, 6.5 mmbo and 15.0 bcf net to Byron, using an average O Sand thickness of 175 feet and historical O Sand recovery factors.

According to the company, the Cutthroat prospect is very similar in trapping style to the productive SM71 F1 and F3 wells drilled by the company in 2016. The combination of lateral faulting and up-dip pinch out of sands controlled by the SM 73 salt dome is common to nearly all the production from the SM73 field. Additionally, the prospect demonstrates seismic attributes consistent with hydrocarbons in the field.

The company will bear 100% of the cost of the SM58 011 well. Byron holds all the operator’s rights, title, and interest in and to the SM58 Lease Block to a depth of 13,639 ft. subsea with 100% Working Interest (WI) and 83.33% Net Revenue Interest (NRI).

To date, all identified drilling opportunities on the SM58 lease are above 13,639 feet subsea. Below 13,639 feet subsea, Byron has a 50% WI (41.67% NRI) under a pre-existing exploration agreement. Additionally, Byron owns a non-operated 53% WI (44.165% NRI) in the associated existing producing assets being the SM69 E Platform and SM58 E1 wellbore.

Maynard V. Smith, Byron CEO, commented: “The company is very pleased to begin the first well on our recently acquired SM58 lease. Cutthroat is our first drill ready prospect and offers a large reward with moderate risk.

“Historically, the O Sands have been a very productive target and this prospect lies in an under drilled area of the block as mapped on our proprietary RTM seismic data. If the SM58 011 well is successful, the recent purchase of a production platform will result in significant capital and time savings to first production, and accelerate further drilling in SM58.”

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