On 12 March 2019, Murphy was reported to have suspended as an oil and gas discovery its Cholula 1EXP directional new-field wildcat (NFW) in the CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016 contract block.Â  There are no details published yet regarding the discovery.     The NFW was spudded on 8 February 2019.       The      CNH reported that the NFW had a proposed total depth (PTD) of 2,746 m      measured depth (MD) and 2,717 m true vertical depth (TVD). Â   The      Transocean âDeepwater Asgardâ D/S drilled the well in a water depth (WD)      of 684 m. Â   The      total estimated drilling cost is USD 46.65 million, and the estimated      prospective resources is approximately 200 MMboe.   The      working interest breakdown of the contract is Murphy Sur, S. de R.L. de C.V.      operator with 30% working interest, PC Carigali Mexico Operations with      23.34% working interest, Ophir Mexico Offshore Exploration, S.A. de C. V.      with 23.33% working interest, and Sierra Offshore Exploration, S. de R. L.      de C.V. has a 23.33% working interest.Â Â  Â    In early-November 2018, Murphy as consortium operator for the CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016 contract, announced plans to spud the Cholula 1EXP new-field wildcat (NFW), name changed from Palenque, in the 1st quarter of 2019, delayed from the originally planned 4th quarter 2018. Â The plans were announced with its 3rd quarter 2018 earnings report. Â The contract exploration plans were previously approved by the CNH in May 2018.Â Â  Â Murphy reported that the Cholula prospect has gross mean resource potential of 200 MMboe and the well cost is estimated to be USD 50 million. Â From the approved exploration plans the NFW has a proposed total depth (PTD) of 4,000 m and will test a Miocene objective.    On 14 May 2018, the CNH officially approved of the exploration plan submitted by the consortium of Murphy, Ophir, PC Carigali, and Sierra for the CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016 contract.Â  The approved plan includes the acquisition and re-processing of 3D seismic over the entire block area, various geological and geophysical studies (G&G), and the drilling of one exploration commitment well.Â  Operator Murphy plans to acquire and re-process 2,573 sq km of the 3D Waz shot by WesternGeco over the area. The partners have selected three prospects in the southeastern area of the block, the Comala, Palenque, and Santiago prospects.Â  The Palenque prospect is the highest ranked prospect that may be drilled after further G&G studies confirms the location. It has potential prospective resources of 141 MMboe and risked resources of 51 MMboe.Â  It is a Miocene prospect in an approximate water depth of 750 m with a proposed total depth of 4,000m.Â  All three prospects have reported estimated prospective resources of 301 MMboe.Â  A total of 63,380 work units will be apportioned to the exploration efforts on the block with the Palenque well included.Â  The CNH reported that this was worth USD 90 million.Â  The minimum commitments for the block were 48,131 work units.Â  Â     On 10 March 2017, the CNH signed the Official Award for an exploration and production license contract with the consortium of Murphy, Ophir, PC Carigali, and Sierra for the CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016, Area 5 - Salina block the consortium won through the CNH-R01-LO4/2015 Bid Round.Â  The official contract name is CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016.Â  This represents the first entry in the country for Murphy, Ophir, and PC Carigali.Â  Sierra already has working interest in two shelf blocks from R1.1.Â  Ophir Energy created a new subsidiary that is the official company in the consortium.Â  The company changed the name of its subsidiary from the original qualified Ophir Mexico Holdings Limited (Ophir Energy) to Ophir Mexico Block 5 Salina S.A. de C.V.
Cholula 1 (Murphy op. 30%, Petronas 23,34%, Sierra 23,33%, Ophir (Medco) 23,33%) in CNH-R01-L04-A5.CS/2016 block, Ophir revealed little detail, saying only that the well was drilled during February and March 2019 and "encountered hydrocarbons". It said that "further drilling is likely to be required to confirm the commerciality of the block."