On 29 October 2019, Hess announced an oil discovery at its Esox prospect in Mississippi Canyon block 726 (G24101) in the deepwater Central Gulf of Mexico. Based on the drilling permit approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Mangement (BOEM) on 16 September 2019, the Esox well appears to be a re-entry of well MC 726 3S0B0 (API 608174121600) which was drilled in 2012 in the Tubular Bells field. Situated in the south-central portion of the Mississippi Canyon (MC) protraction area in 4,609 ft (1,405 m) of water, it is approximately 100 mi (161 km) southeast of the onshore support base at Port Fourchon, Louisiana.  Approximately 6 mi (10 km) east of the Tubular Bells production facility in MC 724, the well encountered about 191 net ft (58 m) of oil in high-quality Miocene reservoirs. Hess had previously characterized the Esox prospect as an amplitude-supported subsalt Miocene play with multiple stacked targets. The prospectâs primary objective was in a stratigraphically shallower interval than the pay zone at Tubular Bells. The well is planned to be tied back to the Tubular Bells facility with production expected in Q1 2020.  A standard-size, 5,670-acre (21.3 sq km) tract, the lease was awarded to BP which submitted a sole bid of USD 14.25 million at Sale 182 in March 2002. It was the third-highest bid of the sale and there were no competing bids for the block. Chevron and Hess farmed into the block in 2003. Hess currently operates the block with 57.14% working interest, with the remaining 42.86% interest owned by Chevron.  Background Information  The Tubular Bells discovery well was drilled in MC 725 in 2003. The field came onstream in November 2014 and has produced 30.1 MMbo and 77.9 Bcfg through June 2019.
MC 726 Esox 1 explo. (Hess 57,14% op, Chevron 42,86%) in the G24101 lease (MC block 726), 58m net of âhigh-quality oil-bearing Miocene reservoirsâ to be fast-tracked as a subsea tie-back to the Tubular Bells platform. WD=1405m. 