US firm hits oil pay in Gulf of America with Seadrill rig

August 20, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Houston-based energy player Talos Energy has made a new oil discovery in the Gulf of America, formerly the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, thanks to its drilling activities with a drillship owned by Seadrill, an offshore drilling contractor.

Months after Talos found commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in the Katmai West #2 well in the Ewing Bank area of the U.S. Gulf, the company disclosed drilling results at the Daenerys exploration prospect in the U.S. Gulf of America Walker Ridge blocks 106, 107, 150, and 151.

Paul Goodfellow, Talos President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are encouraged by the results of our Daenerys discovery well, which confirms the presence of hydrocarbons and validates our geologic and geophysical models.

“We believe these results support Talos’s pre-drill resource assumptions. We are now working closely with our partners to design an appraisal program that will further delineate this exciting discovery. We anticipate spudding the appraisal well in the second quarter of 2026.”

Drilled to a total vertical depth of 33,228 feet with the West Vela deepwater drillship, the well encountered oil pay in multiple high-quality, sub-salt Miocene sands. The comprehensive wireline program enabled the acquisition of core, fluid, and log data to evaluate the reservoir.

Talos, as the operator, will hold a 27% working interest, while the rest will be owned by its partners: Shell Offshore (22.5%), Red Willow (22.5%), Houston Energy (10%), Cathexis (9%), and HEQ II Daenerys (9%).

The U.S. operator explains that the well was drilled approximately 12 days ahead of schedule and delivered around $16 million under budget.

As the planning is underway for an appraisal well to further define the discovered resource, the discovery well has been temporarily suspended to preserve its future utility.