Operator Wintershall Dea and its partners Harbour Energy and Sapura OMV have made a significant oil discovery on the Kan exploration prospect in Block 30, located in the shallow waters of the Cuenca Salina in the Sureste Basin, offshore Mexico.
Based on preliminary estimates, the discovery may contain 200 to 300 million barrels oil equivalent in place.
Kan is the first of two commitment wells of Block 30. The Kan prospect is located about 25 kilometers off the Tabasco coast in water depth of around 50 meters, and within a zone of several Miocene discoveries including the world-class Zama discovery and the Polok and Chinwol discoveries, where Wintershall Dea holds significant working interests.
The Kan well, drilled by the Borr Ran rig, reached a total depth of 3,317 meters and found more than 170 meters net pay sands of Upper Miocene with good petrophysical properties and high-quality oil. An updip sidetrack down to 3,087 meters was carried out, and additionally, approximately 250 meters cores across the main reservoir sands were recovered.
“This important discovery at Wintershall Dea’s first own-operated exploration well offshore Mexico is a great success,” says Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea’s Chief Technology Officer. “It was one of the most contested blocks of Mexico’s bid round 3.1 back in 2018. The successful Kan discovery confirms the attractiveness of Block 30, complementing Wintershall Dea’s outstanding Mexican license portfolio. It is a significant step to extending our footprint in Mexico contributing to the development of a potential new hub in the shallow waters of the Sureste Basin.”
The Block 30 consortium will prepare the Kan discovery appraisal plan before the end of July 2023.
After the Kan-1EXP well and the sidetrack were completed, the Borr Ran jack-up drilling rig was moved to a second prospect to be drilled at Wintershall Dea’s Block 30, namely Ix, located approximately 20 kilometers northeast of the Kan discovery.
Wintershall Dea started exploring for and producing hydrocarbons in Mexico in 2018. The company holds 37% in the producing offshore Block Hokchi, which currently produces around 27,000 barrel oil equivalent per day. Wintershall Dea is the second largest shareholder in the world-class Zama discovery, after Pemex. In addition, Wintershall Dea has material interests in 10 offshore exploration blocks located in the Gulf of Mexico, three of them as operator.
Wintershall Dea's licence portfolio in Mexico's Sureste Basin. Credit Wintershall Dea