INEOS Energy announces new deepwater discovery in US Gulf

INEOS Energy has announced a new oil discovery in the Norphlet play in what it describes as “the Gulf of America.”

The Shell-operated well, Nashville, is located in Mississippi Canyon block 524 in a water depth of 7,381 feet. It marks INEOS' first successful exploration well in the region.  

The Nashville exploration well was drilled more than five miles beneath the seabed and confirmed what INEOS describes as “high-quality oil in one of the Gulf’s most promising deepwater formations.”

The Norphlet play has been one of the hottest in the deepwater Gulf in recent years, containing prolific sand reservoirs. 

The discovery could be tied back to the nearby Appomattox production platform, which is operated by Shell and jointly owned with INEOS. 

David Bucknall, CEO of INEOS Energy, said: “This is a good result for INEOS Energy and an important step in building our presence in the US Gulf where world-class resources are to be found and developed responsibly. We believe Nashville will help strengthen energy security and provide reliable supplies for many years to come.”

INEOS said that the discovery was drilled using the Deepwater Proteus, a seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillship owned and operated by Transocean and designed for water depths down to 12,000 feet (3,658 meters).

Further technical work is now under way to determine the size of the find.  

Heather Osecki, CEO of INEOS Energy’s US Gulf business, said: “The drilling results at Nashville are very encouraging and fully in line with what we hoped to find. This discovery is an important first step in our plans to grow our existing assets while we look to further strengthen our position in the Gulf. We look forward to continuing our work to bring further value to the Appomattox host platform.”

INEOS holds a 21% working interest with Shell, the operator, holding the remaining 79%.