Eni plans to drill new oil and gas exploration wells in Mexico's Sureste basin

Mexico City — Eni is looking to drill up to two new oil and gas exploration wells at one of the eight blocks it operates in the Sureste basin in the Gulf of Mexico where it struck oil in 2019.

Mexico's National Hydrocarbons Commission or CNH approved on Dec. 10 modifications to Eni's exploration plan for its block 10, located in the deepwater Cuenca Salina in the Sureste basin, where the Italian company has identified up to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in prospective resources.

Eni was the biggest winner during Mexico's 2.1 auction round in 2017, picking up three blocks with combined reserves of almost 500 million boe.

The new plan will further appraise the reservoir after the company struck oil in 2019 at its Saaskem well, located in the south western end of the block, CNH data shows. Saaskem is the only well ever drilled in the area, the data shows.

The plan, which will imply investments of almost $132 million through 2023, also contemplates drilling at four new prospects in the Sureste basin: Sayulita, Holbox, Celestun and Mazunte.

Drilling the first three will help Eni evaluate the extent of Saaskem, while drilling at Mazunte could uncover a separate reservoir in the oligocene, at depths of over two miles, CNH technical advisor Rodrigo Hernandez said during the webcast session. The results of the first wells will determine the intensity of future drilling activity, Hernandez said.

Block 10 is surrounded by areas where other private operators have made discoveries, CNH data shows. Spain's Repsol has struck oil at its block 29 just north of Eni's, while US-based Talos Energy made its hallmark discovery at Zama only miles to the south, the data shows.

Eni produced 16,802 b/d of crude and 17.6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day in Mexico during October, according to data from Mexico's Energy Secretariat.

Mexico's total output in October was 1.57 million b/d, although the government has been hoping to boost output to 1.9 million b/d by the end of the year.