New oil & gas discovery for Talos in Gulf of Mexico

Houston-based oil and gas player Talos Energy has made a commercial oil and natural gas discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be tied back to an existing platform.

Earlier this year, Talos revealed its intention to drill the Sunspear prospect in late 2023. This prospect came with the EnVen portfolio. The U.S. player expected gross production rates of approximately 8 to 10 MBoe/d from gross recoverable resources of 12-18 MMBoe.

After drilling the Sunspear exploitation well, Talos discovered commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in July 2023. The company’s preliminary post-drill analysis indicates approximately 260 feet of gross true vertical thickness of oil pay – 177 feet net across two targets – including 149 feet of net oil pay in the main target in line with pre-drill expectations.

According to the U.S. firm, this project will flow to the recently acquired Prince platform with the first oil expected in the next 18 to 24 months. Talos (operator, 48 per cent), an entity managed by Ridgewood Energy Corporation (47.5 per cent), and Houston Energy (4.5 per cent) are the partners in this discovery.

Timothy S. Duncan, Talos President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are excited about our discovery at Sunspear, a prospect and host facility acquired in the EnVen transaction. This success further demonstrates our belief that owning critical assets in the Gulf of Mexico can significantly enhance subsea drilling economics.”

Located in Ewing Bank block 1003, the Prince TLP was installed in August 2001 in 1,490 ft (454 m) of water, and designed for a 20-year lifespan. However, EnVen asked ABSG Consulting to identify U.S. regulatory requirements and conduct life extension studies to assess the feasibility of extending the platform’s service life for an additional 15 years.

Meanwhile, the U.S. player claims that its completion, construction, and subsea installation operations at Lime Rock and Venice discoveries remain on track with the first production anticipated by the first quarter of 2024 from both wells, which will be tied back to its owned and operated Ram Powell facility. Talos owns a 60 per cent working interest in both wells.

Furthermore, the Longhorn prospect, designed to test deep objectives underneath the Lobster field, found non-commercial levels of hydrocarbons in the deep zone, though the well encountered over 50 feet of pay across two legacy field pays. Talos explains that the well has been suspended and will be analysed for completion alongside the next Lobster field development well, which is expected to spud in the third quarter of 2023.

On the other hand, the Bayou Bend partnership has contracted a rig and expects to drill a Talos-operated offshore stratigraphic well during the second half of 2023. The partners also expect to drill a Chevron-operated onshore stratigraphic well in the first half of 2024.

In early August 2023, Talos filed its first EPA Class VI permit for its Harvest Bend CCS project (formerly known as River Bend CCS), in which it holds a 60 per cent interest. The company also intends to file at least one additional EPA Class VI permit application across its portfolio by year-end.