COGSWELL,THOMAS L., ROSA M. CHIQUITO, Exxon Upstream Development Co., Houston,TX; DAVID S. EPPS, BP Exploration Inc., Houston,TX;AARON R. LIESCH, Exxon Upstream Development Co., Houston,TX; JAY C. NANIA,* and PAMELA A. QUIGLEY, BP Exploration Inc., Houston,TX

Abstract: Diana Basin Development: A Pragmatic Approach to the Exploitation of Two Deepwater GOM Fields

Joint development of Diana and Hoover will allow the economic development of 300MMBOE over 100 miles from existing facilities. Located in 4800' of water, the two fields have different structural styles, fluids, and reservoir architectures. Diana is a subsea development tied back to a Deep Draft Caisson Vessel (DDCV) host at Hoover. First production is scheduled for mid-2000 with peak production of 100kBOPD and 325 MMCFD.

Diana is a mixed reservoir with a large gas cap and thin oil rim trapped by a stratigraphic pinchout of the Plio-Pleistocene A-50 turbidite sand onlapping a slatcored high. Average gross thickness is 100'. The reservoir grades from channelized sands to layered, sheet-like sands. Diana will be developed in two phases; phase one utilizes five horizontal wells to deplete the oil, phase two develops the gas cap. Horizontal wells will delay water breakthrough, and provide for high deliverability. The highly stratified A-50 reservoir must be cut entirely by the wellbore to contact all internal flow units.

Hoover is an undersaturated oil reservoir in the Pliocene P1:10 sand anticlinally trapped over a diapiric shale ridge.The reservoir is a high net-to-gross channelized turbidite near the basin sediment entry point. Bottom-water is present under two thirds of the field. Gross reservoir thickness ranges from 140' to nearly absent on the structure's crest. Six 2000' horizontal wells will be drilled using a modified platform rig.The absence of vertical permeability barriers allows these wells to be positioned near the top of the reservoir for maximum water standoff.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90923@1999 International Conference and Exhibition, Birmingham, England