Italian firm Eni has made a new discovery on the Yatzil prospect offshore Mexico, following the drilling of the Yatzil-1 EXP well.
The Yatzil exploration prospect is located in Block 7 in the mid-deep water of the Cuenca Salina in the Sureste Basin.
As per the preliminary estimates, the new discovery holds around 200 million barrels of oil (MBoe) in place.
The second commitment well of Block 7, the Yatzil-1 EXP well is located about 65km off the coast, and 25-30km away from other discoveries.
Following drilling to a total depth of 2,441m using the Valaris DPS5 Semisub rig, the Yatzil-1 EXP identified excess of 40m of net pay sands with good quality oil in the Upper Miocene sequences.
Eni said the discovery has excellent petrophysical properties, which is confirmed following extensive subsurface data collection.
In a press statement, Eni said: “The successful result comes after the Saasken and Sayulita discoveries in Block 10 and confirms the value of Eni’s Mexican asset portfolio, contributing to the potential synergic cluster development of several prospects located nearby.”
Eni operates the Block 7 Joint Venture with a 45% stake. The company’s other partners include Capricorn (30%) and Citla Energy (25%).
The Italian firm also holds stake in Mexico’s Area 1 phased development project, which currently produces more than 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed).
Eni also owns rights in eight exploration and production blocks located in the Sureste Basin in the Gulf of Mexico.
Last month, Eni reported an adjusted net profit of €13.3bn for the full-year 2022 and adjusted operating profit of €20.39bn.
