Byron abandons GoM well, moves to next

Mar 30, 2016

Byron Energy’s attempt to drill a sidetrack well to SM 6#2 after a drill pipe became stuck has turned out to be unsuccessful in the Gulf of Mexico, with the company abandoning the well and moving on to another.

The Hercules 205, from Hercules Offshore.

Last week, Byron was attempting to drill a sidetrack to SM 6#2, located in the South Marsh Block 6 lease. However, after reaching 8085ft, the drill pipe became and remained irretrievably stuck, and the company has decided to temporarily abandon the well.

“Byron will undertake post well studies of engineering, drilling and geology to understand what, if any, options are available regarding future utility of the wellbore,” the company said. “We are very disappointed at not having reached the primary target, the G20 Sand, with our SM 6 #2 well. Having consulted numerous engineers, reservoir and pore pressure experts the decision to temporarily plug and abandon the well bore was made by Byron, retaining the ability to re-enter the well at a later date should we decide to do so.”

The Hercules 205 jackup rig has been mobilized to South Marsh Island 71 where it will soon spud the SM 71 #1 well later this week, along with partner Otto Energy.

According to Byron, the SM 71 #1 well is a lower cost and less complex well than the SM 6 #2 well with high impact potential to the company.

Well SM 71 #1 is a salt dome play where over 116 MMbbl and 375 Bcf of gas have already been produced. The well is located about 250km southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana in approximately 40m water depth, and some 50km south of the SMI-6 license.

The SM 71 #1 well will be drilled to a planned total depth of approximately 7452ft (2271m) and is anticipated to take 20 days to drill and evaluate.

The well will target two objective sands, the J Sand with gross proved and probable undeveloped reserves of 0.8 MMbbl and 0.5 Bcf of gas; and the primary target is the D5 sand, with gross prospective resources of 5.6 MMbbl and 4.1 Bcf of gas.

In order to earn a 50% working interest in the SMI-70/71 leases, Otto said it will contribute 66.67% of the costs of the well at an estimated at US$3 million net to Otto.