Seadrill’s West Pegasus Sets Deepwater Drilling Record Off Mexico

Lee Freeman, Captain of Seadrill’s record-breaking rig West Pegasus provides us with the following update via satellite.

On 28 January 2011, the first crew members arrived at Jurong shipyard in Singapore and stepped aboard the world’s newest 6th generation, harsh environment, semi submersible drilling rig, the West Pegasus.  The crew hit the ground running and less than two weeks later, we were conducting sea trials in the South China Sea, and by April we were on our way toward our first assignment…

The deep water off Mexico.

Over the past two years since arriving at our destination, we’ve encountered numerous challenges in the start up of deepwater operations in Mexican waters.  Through teamwork and living the Seadrill Values every day, we have overcome these challenges and our crew is now setting records for drilling in Mexico.

Our most recent accomplishment is the start of the well Maximino located in El Perdido Basin just 25 miles south of the US maritime border. At 2,923 meters (9,560 feet), this is the deepest, and most challenging offshore well ever drilled by Pemex to date and also a record as the deepest water depth for Seadrill.  Maximino is considered the crown jewel of deepwater projects for state-run Petroleos Mexicanos as it may have as many as 10 billion barrels of potential reserves in its El Perdido deposits in the Gulf of Mexico.

In October 2012, Pemex announced the discovery of the Supremus 1 field in the Gulf of Mexico. A find that officials said would boost Mexico’s production curve to 50 years. The Supremus 1 well in 2,901 meters of water (9,518 feet), also drilled by the West Pegasus, is located some 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, and roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Mexico’s maritime border with the United States, holding oil amounting to about one-third of Mexico’s total reserves, according to officials. Supremus 1 and Maximino 1 are both in El Perdido Basin 2-1/2 nautical miles apart.

Oil producers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc, and Chevron Corp. are already pumping crude from the U.S. side of the Perdido region, where the companies operate the world’s deepest spar production facility.

We have built a successful team and relationship here in Mexico. We look forward to many more successful years for Pemex and Seadrill. Pemex is investing heavily in exploration and development and it is Pemex’s assets in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico that hold the key to increasing future production.

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