SUMMARY

The Hoover Discovery represents the largest of a string of recent successes in the Plio-Pleistocene sand-rich, Diana Intraslope Basin of the western Gulf of Mexico. Hoover is located 160 miles south of Galveston and 120 miles offshore in 4800' of water. The discovery is a DHI supported, oil and gas discovery located in Alaminos Canyon Blocks 25 and 26. The discovery is an anticlinal closure in the central portion of the Diana Basin. Hoover contains reserves in excess of 100 MBOE in two zones. The first is a shallow, Pleistocene gas sand. The second and most prolific is a Pliocene oil zone with very good reservoir quality. Both zones have significant amplitude expression with apparent flat events related to hydrocarbon-water contacts. The discovery well the Exxon/BP AC 25 #1, drilled in early 1997, found 47' of gross gas pay in the Pleistocene and 97' of gross oil pay in the lower portion of the Upper Pliocene. The discovery well found the hydrocarbon-water contact is both zones and confirmed the amplitude based, areal extent for each accumulation. Although high quality reservoir was predicted, the Pliocene reservoir quality exceeded expectations. The reservoir has an average porosity in excess of 30% and average permeability over 1000 md. The presence of thermogenic hydrocarbons in the Pliocene reservoir confirms our current model for vertical and lateral migration of hydrocarbons in the Diana intraslope basin. With these latest discovery volumes, the Exxon/BP partnership should be able to fully exploit Hoover, the sizable Diana reserves, discovered in 1990, and the surrounding satellite discoveries and prospects.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah