Norwegian multinational oil, gas and renewable energy company Equinor and co-venturers Progress Resources USA Ltd and Repsol E&P USA Inc. have encountered oil in the Monument exploration well in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Equinor said on Monday the Monument exploration well found approximately 200 feet (c. 60 metres) of net oil pay with good reservoir characteristics in Paleogene sandstone.
The company said the discovery provides an early indication of the productive reservoir interval at the well location. It said the well was drilled to a total depth of 33,348 feet (10,164 metres) using the Pacific Khamsin rig.
“We are pleased to have proved an accumulation of movable hydrocarbons in the Monument exploration well. However, determining the full potential of the discovery will require further appraisal drilling,” the release quotes Bjørn Inge Braathen, senior vice president of Exploration in North America, as saying.
The Monument exploration well is said to be located in the central US Gulf of Mexico. It is operated by Equinor (50%) with partners Progress Resources USA Ltd (30%) and Repsol E&P USA Inc. (20%). The release said Monument is Equinor’s first operated exploration well in the US Gulf of Mexico since 2015.
