Anadarko Petroleum, owned by Occidental Petroleum, may drill an exploration well as soon as November on the Magnus prospect in the US Gulf of Mexico blocks where Inpex signed a farm-in agreement in recent months.

Magnus lies in Walker Ridge Blocks 881 and 925 near the company's Lucius spar, according to documents filed with the US Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The Gulf of Mexico strategy for Anadarko — whose leases have not yet been converted to Occidental ownership in US records — remains uncertain following the merger.

Occidental, despite pursuing Anadarko for its onshore position in the Permian basin, has also said it likes the Gulf of Mexico portfolio.

According to the BSEE filing, drilling at the first location in WR 881 could begin as soon as 16 November with operations to last 100 days until 24 February.

The drill site is just a few miles north of the Logan discovery made by Statoil, now Equinor.

Inpex announced in August it had joined Anadarko on four blocks near its Lucius spar in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, tracts that lie south and east of the existing producing fields of Lucius and Hadrian North.

The tracts included Walker Ridge blocks 881 and 925 as well as Keathley Canyon 921 and 965.

Inpex, which also holds stakes in the Lucius and Hadrian North fields, agreed to take a 40% stake in each block.

Anadarko has been active in the Gulf since its takeover by Occidental, spending the second-most of any company at the recent August lease sale with $23.4 million for 14 blocks.

The company flexed its muscle in Keathley Canyon to outbid joint Llog Exploration-Repsol offers on KC 779, 780 and 824.

These blocks lie immediately south of the Moccasin discovery operated by Llog, which the independent is considering for a joint development with the Leon discovery.

Anadarko also staged a modest return in Walker Ridge where the company had worked extensively on the Shenandoah find before selling off that discovery to Llog in recent years.

In particular, the company offered more than $4 million each on both WR 503 and 504, blocks that sit more or less between Chevron's Jack St Malo development and Shell's Stones field.

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Anadarko eyes Magnus drilling