Talos Energy confirms promising oil find at Daenerys in US Gulf of Mexico

Talos Energy has discovered oil with its Daenerys exploration well in Walker Ridge blocks 106, 107, 150 and 151 in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The deepwater drillship West Vela drilled the well to a TVD of 33,228 ft, with the well delivering oil pay in multiple high-quality, sub-salt Miocene sands, according to an Aug. 19 Talos report.

Drilling was completed 12 days ahead of schedule and about $16 million below budget, with the well since temporarily suspended to preserve its integrity for future operations.

A wireline program during drilling involved acquiring core, fluid and log data to evaluate the reservoir.

Talos has already begun planning for an appraisal well in second-quarter 2026 to further delineate the find. The discovery well has been temporarily suspended to preserve its future utility.

The company added that as operator of the well, it will hold a 27% interest in partnership with Shell Offshore (22.5%), Red Willow (22.5%), Houston Energy (10%), Cathexis (9%) and HEQ II Daenerys (9%).

Talos President and CEO Paul Goodfellow said the results validated geologic and geophysical models, and they appear to support the pre-drill resource assessment, which was previously reported at 100 MMbbl to 300 MMbbl.

"This is good news for the US GoM, which has seen only limited exploration success in recent years," Welligence Energy Analytics stated on its LinkedIn today. "Furthermore, it's a boost for Talos, which has a business heavily weighted to mature, declining assets. This discovery potentially brings a material development project into the portfolio."

Welligence also noted that Oxy’s Heidelberg, located 25 miles to the northwest, has been identified as a potential host.