Cairn Energy has hit a dry well in the first well of its drilling program offshore Mexico, where the exploration target of the Alom-1 well on Block 9 failed to prove hydrocarbons, the UK-based independent oil and gas company said.
The company said the well would now be permanently plugged and abandoned after data collected and preliminary analysis had indicated over 500m of “high quality water bearing sands across multiple targets”.
“This information will help Cairn calibrate the seismic data and geological models and is being integrated to improve Cairn’s understanding of the petroleum system offshore Mexico,” the company added.
The well, located 120km northwest of Villahermosa, was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,056m below the sea surface by the Maersk Developer semi-submersible rig and was terminated in the Pleistocene section.
Alom-1 is Cairn’s first operated exploration well in Mexico, the licence was awarded in Round 2.1 in 2017. Cairn holds a 50% working interest with JV partners Citla Energy (35%) and ENI (15%).
The same rig will now move to drill Cairn’s second operated well on Block 9, Bitol-1, which is expected to commence operations in the course of November.
Alom-1 was drilled by the Maersk Developer semi-submersible rig, which will now move to drill Cairn’s second operated well on Block 9, Bitol-1, which is expected to commence operations in November 2019.
