Eni, the Italian oil and gas company, has made a considerable oil discovery in the shallow waters of Campeche Bay in offshore Mexico.
The discovery was made across multiple reservoirs following the completion of drilling of the Amoca-2 well.
Eni has now become the first international oil giant to have drilled a well in Mexico since the 2013 Energy Reform.
After drilling the well for nearly 3,500m, Eni encountered around 110m of net oil pay from a number of Pliocene reservoir sandstones. Out of which, 65 meters were discovered in a deeper horizon that was previously not drilled.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said: “This important discovery comes in a country where Eni has not yet operated and confirms our exploration capabilities, building upon our strong exploration track-record, and is another confirmation of the validity of our “Dual Exploration Model” approach.
“Focusing on conventional exploration with high initial stakes and operatorship, we manage to fast-track exploration activities, monetize exploration successes early and receive competitive development opportunities, therefore maximizing value generation for our shareholders.”
Located in the Contractual Area 1, in 25 meters of water, the drilling of Amoca-2 well confirmed the availability of 18° API oil in the shallower formations. As per Eni, the Pliocene reservoir sandstones which were found contain light oil of high quality.
The oil and gas company which is assessing the reserves said that there are enough indications that the well has more oil presence than what was originally thought of.
Eni, which has a 100% stake in the Area 1 Production Sharing Agreement, stated that it will continue with the drilling campaign in the area. It will start drilling in a new well Amoca-3 and then move on to the Miztón-2 and Tecoalli-2 delineation wells in the current year.
Earlier in the week, in offshore Ivory Coast, Eni secured two new exploration blocks in the Tano basin where it will have 90% stake each with the remaining 10% stakes with the state-owned Petroci.