US firm enriches its Gulf of Mexico arsenal with mostly deepwater oil assets

Houston-based Talos Energy has wrapped up the acquisition of QuarterNorth Energy, a privately-held U.S. Gulf of Mexico exploration and production company with ownership in several offshore fields. Thanks to this addition, Talos has expanded its deepwater portfolio in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Talos Energy revealed the deal to get a hold of QuarterNorth in January 2024 through a transaction, consisting of 24.8 million shares of its common stock and approximately $965 million in cash. Following the acquisition, Talos has about 183 million shares of common stock outstanding, including around 24.4 million shares issued to the QuarterNorth shareholders as consideration. The U.S. player has appointed QuarterNorth’s designee, Joseph A. Mills, to its board of directors.

Timothy S. Duncan, Talos’ President and CEO, commented: “We are excited to close this important transaction ahead of schedule as we focus on operational execution and acceleration of synergies from the transaction. We expect the addition of these predominantly operated, oil-weighted deepwater assets and related infrastructure will enhance our ability to consistently generate substantial free cash flow while expanding our portfolio of growth opportunities.”

The QuarterNorth acquisition adds production of about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) expected for the full year 2024, averaging about 75% oil from approximately 95% operated assets. In addition, it brings proven reserves of around 69 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) with a PV-10 of $1.7 billion; high margin, low production decline with low reinvestment rate requirements to sustain it.

Thanks to this acquisition, QuarterNorth’s producing assets, including six fields in total, which are approximately 95% operated and 95% in deepwater, have now joined Talos’ portfolio, enabling the firm to operate the Katmai discovery in the Green Canyon region, which is producing an estimated combined 27 mboe/d gross from two early-life wells.

The company expects the field to produce over 34 mboe/d gross on average. This forecast is based on a field development plan, which entails two future well locations and a facilities upgrade project in early 2025. The U.S. player is convinced that QuarterNorth’s interests in the Big Bend, Galapagos, Genovesa, and Gunflint fields bring more development potential to the table.

Recently, Talos Energy began production from two oil and natural gas deepwater discoveries in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the company tucked another commercial oil and natural gas discovery in the Gulf of Mexico under its belt, planning to develop it as a tie-back to the Prince platform.