Hess Corp. has announced an oil discovery at the Esox-1 exploration well located in Mississippi Canyon Block No. 726 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Esox-1 was drilled in 4609 ft (1405 m) of water and encountered approximately 191 net ft (58 m) of high quality oil bearing Miocene reservoirs. Esox-1 is located approximately 6 miles (10 km) east of the Tubular Bells production facilities.
“We are delighted with the success of the Esox well, which demonstrates the value of our infrastructure led exploration program in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico,” CEO John Hess said. “We expect the well to be producing in the first quarter of 2020. As a low cost tieback to existing infrastructure, Esox should generate strong financial returns.”
Hess Corp. is operator and holds 57.14% interest in Esox; Chevron USA Inc. holds 42.86% interest.