McMoRan Exploration has provided an update on its Gulf of Mexico exploration activities, including updates on in-progress wells at the Davy Jones ultra-deep prospect, the Blueberry Hill offset appraisal well and the Hurricane Deep sidetrack well.
The Davy Jones ultra-deep prospect on South Marsh Island Block 230 has been drilled to 28,112ft and has a proposed total depth of 29,000ft. The objective of the well is to test Eocene (Wilcox), Paleocene and possibly the Cretaceous (Tuscaloosa) sections below the salt well on the Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Interim logging operations have indicated the presence of multiple porous sand intervals in the Yegua/Sparta and Wilcox sections of the Eocene as determined by paleo data from the well.
Wireline logs have indicated several hundred feet of sand, some of which may be hydrocarbon bearing, in the Yegua/Sparta section that will require further evaluation. Wireline logs have also obtained gamma ray and neutron/density information in an approximate interval from 26,900ft to 28,000ft which indicate that the Davy Jones well has encountered multiple Wilcox sands, one of which could be possibly hydrocarbon bearing based on interpretations of the available density/neutron information.
McMoRan’s interpretation indicates that the Cretaceous (Tuscaloosa) section productive onshore in the Tuscaloosa trend north of Baton Rouge (i.e. the Port Hudson, Judge Digby, Moore-Sams fields, etc.) could extend to offshore in deep horizons on the Shelf, which would support drilling deeper at Davy Jones and other ultra-deep prospects controlled by McMoRan and its partners.
Future prospective wells include an appraisal well to the southwest of the initial Davy Jones well which would allow McMoRan to test similar sections approximately 1,000ft shallower than in the initial exploratory well.
McMoRan is currently utilizing the Rowan Mississippi jack-up rig to drill the Davy Jones ultra-deep well and has an option on Rowan Ralph Coffman, which is the sister rig to the Rowan Mississippi. These two rigs would allow McMoRan to maintain an active ultra-deep drilling program in 2010.
The Blueberry Hill offset appraisal well on Louisiana State Lease 340 commenced drilling on November 8, 2009 and is currently drilling below 14,500ft towards a proposed total depth of 21,850ft. The offset appraisal well is located in 10 feet of water approximately 2,000ft southeast of the sidetrack #2 well, which was drilled to a total depth of 21,942ft and encountered 45 net feet of pay in October 2009.
McMoRan believes the sands seen to date in the area could thicken in the offset well as they are expected to be structurally high to the sands in the sidetrack #1, by-pass and sidetrack #2 wells drilled earlier in 2009.
The Hurricane Deep sidetrack well on South Marsh Island Block 217 commenced drilling on November 17, 2009 and is currently drilling below 13,400ft towards a proposed total depth of 21,750ft.
The Hurricane Deep sidetrack is located on the southern flank of the Flatrock structure. This up dip test well is targeting the Gyro sand encountered in the Hurricane Deep well (No226) and deeper potential. The No226 well was drilled to a true vertical depth of 20,712ft in the first quarter of 2007 and logs indicated an exceptionally thick upper Gyro sand totaling 900 gross ft, the top 40ft of which was hydrocarbon bearing. McMoRan believes an up dip well has the potential to contain a thicker hydrocarbon column.