Llog Exploration has finished up drilling at an appraisal well at the Leon discovery in the Keathley Canyon area of the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico, with the drillship Seadrill West Neptune moving offsite.
The US independent received its permit to drill the well at the KC 686 block on 5 June 2019, according to the database of the US Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement. The latest update from the regulator on deep-water drilling activity in the region did not include the KC 686 well.
"After coring and logging operations, LLOG has temporarily abandoned the Leon well," chief operating officer Rick Fowler told Upstream.
Llog earlier this year signed an asset swap and joint participation agreement with Repsol covering the Spanish major’s 2014 Leon discovery, as well as the block containing the find known as Moccasin.
The US independent then set to drill a delineation well at the find, with an eye towards further sizing up development potential in the area.
Llog told Upstream earlier this year that Leon and Moccasin could be of adequate size to justify an additional hub in the area, and the two discoveries could present an opportunity for co-development given that they lie less than 20 miles apart.
Repsol in 2014 announced the discovery on the neighbouring Keathley Canyon 642, saying the well was drilled to 9684 metres, coming across 150 metres of net oil pay within a column of over 400 metres.
At the time Repsol called Leon a "significant" find of high-quality oil, and was made at the site 352 kilometres offshore in about 1865 metres of water. A follow-up appraisal well was drilled in 2016. But leases had been facing expiration this July.
Earlier this year Llog initiated production from the Buckskin field, a tieback to the Lucius spar, after taking the lead on the project from Repsol.
Chevron at one time had eyed Buckskin and Moccasin as a co-development, but the US supermajor later walked away amid concerns the development would not be economic, choosing instead to give attention to other projects.
Llog operates KC 686 with a 33% stake, with Repsol on 50% and Beacon Offshore Energy on 17%.
The latter company is backed by private equity player Blackstone, an organisation where former Llog chief Scott Gutterman took the helm last December.
