Eni Strikes Paydirt With Second Mexico Wildcat

Italian major Eni has reported a new oil discovery offshore Mexico, adding to the company’s exploratory success in the country’s waters. Eni said the Sayulita-1 EXP well in Block 10 came across 55 meters (180 feet) of net pay of good-quality oil in upper Miocene reservoirs. The company estimates the find, located in the Salina Basin, contains in-place volumes of 150 million-300 million barrels of oil. The well was drilled by the semisubmersible Valaris 8505 at a water depth of just over 1,000 feet. The Sayulita-1 probe was a follow-up after Eni’s Saasken-1EXP discovery in the same block last year. That well hit 80 meters of net pay with an estimated gross resource of 200 million-300 million bbl. Eni hinted that its second success in the block could be a building block for a future development scheme. The results “confirm the value of the asset and open the potential commercial outcome of Block 10, since several other prospects located nearby may be clustered in a synergic development,” Eni said in a statement. Eni operates the block with a 65% share alongside partners Lukoil and Capricorn Oil, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy. Mixed Results Exploration results from private operators since Mexico’s 2013 energy sector opening have been varied. Along with Eni, Spanish firm Repsol has also made two discoveries in the Salina Basin: Polok and Chinwol. However, other recent high-profile wells drilled by Royal Dutch Shell, China's CNOOC and Malaysia's Petronas have disappointed (OD Jul.20'21). Talos Energy found success with its blockbuster Zama discovery, but a contentious unitization dispute with Pemex has clouded its development outlook (OD Jul.6'21). Staying the Course