EPL finds success with bypassed oil
Posted: 31 March 2008
Energy Partners Ltd today reported that an exploitation well drilled in its East Bay field, located in its Eastern core area on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf, has uncovered bypassed oil potential that exceeded its pre-drill expectations.
"This is exciting news for this 100 per cent owned core property," said Stephen D. Longon, Senior Vice President of Drilling, Engineering and Production.
"We are looking at this field with a renewed focus and have developed a three-pronged strategy to unlock this field's potential. This strategy includes enhancing oil production in the field through infill drilling and other techniques, increasing the profitability of the field through reductions in the field's lease operating and drilling costs, and finally, decreasing the maintenance requirements of the field through an active plugging and abandonment program."
The exploitation well is the first of several operations planned for the rig in the East Bay field. The well, a development sidetrack located in one of the main fault blocks in the field, has found bypassed oil, penetrating 7 hydrocarbon bearing sands for a total of 120 feet of apparent high quality oil pay.
The well is currently being completed and is expected to be on line early in the second quarter with an expected initial gross production rate of 400 to 800 barrels of oil per day.
EPL holds a 100 per cent working interest in the primary producing areas of this field.
The results of the first infill drilling targeting bypassed oil in the East Bay field is encouraging EPL to look for additional opportunities of this type in the field, with a study underway to develop more locations.
EPL sees at least one more location in this current fault block, with numerous other fault blocks containing multiple oil bearing sands to study in the coming months. The company also plans to test a similar concept identified last year in a nearby fault block believed to contain bypassed oil.
This test will be conducted through the drilling of its first well in a pilot horizontal drilling program scheduled to begin following the completion of the sidetrack well.
The East Bay field is located 89 miles southeast of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi River and contains producing wells located along the coastline and in water depths ranging up to approximately 85 feet in both state and federal waters.
EPL holds approximately 51 square miles of acreage in this large field that has produced over 660 million barrels of oil and 1.6 trillion cubic feet of gas from over 100 producing horizons since its discovery nearly 60 years ago.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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