Print this pageMahogany Field, a Subsalt Legend: A Tale of Technology, Timing and Tenacity, Offshore Gulf of Mexico
CAMP, WAYNE K., and DONN MCGUIRE
Mahogany field is destined to become a future legend due to its distinction as the first commercial field in the subsalt play of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mahogany discovery follows nearly a decade of subsalt drilling in which no commercial discoveries had been chronicled. The impact of the Mahogany discovery can already be measured by the rejuvenated exploration activity in the outer continental shelf. Since the Mahogany discovery in 1993, fifteen subsalt wildcat wells have been drilled by ten different operators resulting in four new subsalt discoveries. Drilling activity in the play remains high with eleven rigs active through the first half of 1996.
New technological advances in subsalt 3D seismic depth imaging, combined with improved understanding of deep-water sand depositional models and salt tectonics, was instrumental to the discovery of Mahogany field. Drilling results from Mahogany led to improvements in subsalt drilling techniques, new seismic acquisition and processing methods, new formation evaluation procedures, and better understanding of subsalt reservoirs and trapping styles. The potential for future subsalt successes has inspired new research in salt tectonic modeling, subsalt hydrocarbon maturation and migration, deep-water reservoir description and prediction, and 3D seismic attribute analysis.
This new technology is being applied to development drilling strategies at Mahogany field, and for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico subsalt play and other plays throughout the world.