A “new normal” for the Gulf of Mexico in a post-Mocondo world; Noble Energy to lead the industry back to drilling in the deepwaters!!

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved the first permit for Noble Energy to drill at its Santiago prospect  in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf, about 70 miles south of the Louisiana coast, since the Deepwater Horizon spill shut Gulf of Mexico drilling last April.

Michael Bromwich , director for BOEMRE, said in a statement that, “This permit was issued for one simple reason: the operator successfully demonstrated that it can drill its deep-water well safely and that it is capable of containing a subsea blowout if it were to occur”. He also added that, “We expect further deep-water permits to be approved in coming weeks and months based on the same process that led to the approval of this permit.”

• Santiago is a middle Miocene amplitude prospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 519. Noble Energy is the operator with a 23.25 percent working interest.
• Well operations were suspended in June 2010 as a result of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium.
• Located in 6,500 feet of water, the Santiago exploration well had previously drilled to a depth of 13,585 feet at the time of the moratorium. Drilling operations are anticipated to resume in late March 2011, targeting total drilling depth of approximately 19,000 feet.
• The Ensco 8501 rig, which performed completion operations on the Santa Cruz and Isabela discoveries at the Galapagos project during the second half of 2010, will perform the drilling at Santiago.

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