US-based oil and gas exploration company Talos Energy has announced completion of the Zama appraisal program in Block 7, located in the offshore portion of Mexico’s prolific Sureste Basin.
Talos is the operator of the Block 7 as part of the consortium between the partners Sierra Oil & Gas, a Wintershall DEA company, and Premier Oil.
Located approximately 2.4km south of the original Zama-1, the Zama-3 appraisal well marks the third and final appraisal penetration drilled by the consortium to define the resource potential of the Zama discovery.
In addition, the Zama-2 and Zama-2 ST1 appraisal penetrations drilled in the first half of 2019, showed results that met or crossed expectations of the consortium.
Talos president and chief executive officer Timothy S. Duncan said: “Based on the preliminary results of our appraisal program, we have confirmed the combination of outstanding subsurface properties, significant recoverable volumes and attractive economic potential that have already made Zama a globally-recognized asset.
“The match of the preliminary well data to our geophysical model suggests that we have a gross recoverable resource in the upper half of our pre-appraisal guidance range of 400-800 MMBoe. With the collaboration of our Consortium partners, Pemex and the Mexican government authorities, we look forward to reaching FID as soon as possible and then turning our attention toward first oil.”
Talos consortium evaluates data from four penetrations of Zama reservoir
The consortium is evaluating all of the data and samples collected from its four penetrations of the Zama reservoir.
The evaluation includes data from approximately 1,450 feet of whole core, fluid samples from 30 separate points in the reservoir, 180 pressure points, 25 logging runs and two extended flow tests, with the goal of integrating this data with internal models and sharing it with external auditors to produce an updated contingent recoverable resource report by year end.
Talos said that based on the preliminary information collected to date, the updated value is expected to fall in the upper half of the previously provided pre-appraisal guidance range of 400-800 MMBoe.
In addition, the consortium is advancing both its front-end engineering and design (FEED) work streams along with unitisation discussions with Petróleos Mexicanos, aiming a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2020, subject to required government approvals.
