Eni said it successfully drilled and tested the Amoca-3 well in the shallow waters of Campeche Bay, in offshore Mexico's Area 1, some 200 km west of Ciudad Del Carmen. The well -- at 25 meters water depth, some 1.5 km south west of Amoca-1 and 3km northwest of Amoca-2 -- test-flowed 6,000 barrels/day of 25 API° crude. 

It said the well was drilled at a total depth of 4,330 meters and encountered 410 meters of net oil pay (25 - 27 API°), in several high-quality reservoirs. Amoca-3 has now been temporarily suspended but will be used for production at a later stage. Area 1 drilling campaign will continue with the first appraisal of the Mizton discovery, said Eni, followed by other wells that will appraise existing discoveries and explore new undrilled pools. 

With the results of the Amoca-3 well, Eni boosts the resource estimate of the Amoca field to 1bn boe in place, and the Area 1 total estimated resource base to 1.3bn boe in place, of which 90% is oil, with further upside. Eni did not say if the other 10% was associated gas or condensate.

Eni says it will now submit an accelerated and phased development plan in 2017 targeting an early production phase with a plateau ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 boe/d, with the start of operations planned for early 2019. CEO Claudio Descalzi said he was "very pleased with the results of our exploration and appraisal campaign in Mexico." Eni holds a 100% stake in Area 1. It has other interests in blocks offshore Mexico too.

Mark Smedley