Global resources company BHP Billiton announced on Monday that it has made an oil discovery at its second exploratory well on the Chinook prospect in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Drilled in water depths of approximately 2 684m, the well exceeded a total depth of 8 406m, encountering a gross hydrocarbon column of 188 meters with 79m of net oil pay.
The Chinook discovery is located more than 300km from the Louisiana coast in Walker Ridge Block 469, approximately 30km south of the previously announced Cascade discovery.
Steve Bell, president of Exploration and Business Development for BHP Billiton Petroleum, said: “This is a very encouraging result on a large structure. Of course, it is early days and the result must be seen in perspective. While this is the deepest penetration to date on Chinook, we must have more appraisal data before we can be definitive about the scale of resource.
“Importantly, this strengthens our inventory of BHP Billiton-operated discoveries in the area. With Shenzi, Cascade, Neptune, and Vortex, we have a full appraisal programme in place to evaluate and, if successful, create more value by ultimately commercialising these hydrocarbon accumulations.”
Drilling on Chinook-3 began January 13 2003, using the BHP Billiton operated drillship C.R. Luigs. BHP Billiton owns a 40% interest and is the designated operator of Chinook with Petrobras owning a 30% interest, and Total and Amerada Hess each holding a 15% interest.
BHP Billiton holds interests in more than 340 blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, where the company is actively exploring for oil and gas. Deep water projects sanctioned for development include the Atlantis and Mad Dog oil and gas fields, in addition to producing assets at Typhoon and Boris. In the past year the company has announced discoveries at Cascade, Shenzi, and Vortex, all of which are located in deep- and ultra-deepwater blocks. – I-Net Bridge