ExxonMobil has spudded a maiden exploration well in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin offshore Brazil.
Drilling of the Cutthroat-1 wildcat with the Seadrill drillship West Saturn is taking place in Block SEAL-M-428 in 3,093 meters of water.
The campaign, according to Brazilian project partner Enauta, is expected to take between two and four months.
Cutthroat-1 is one among 11 prospects that have been mapped already by ExxonMobil as potential drilling locations in Sergipe-Alagoas.
These include Ceres-1 in Block SEAL-M-351, Chinook-1 and Char-1 in Block SEAL-M-503 and Masu-1 in Block SEAL-M-573.
ExxonMobil operates nine deep-water exploration blocks in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin with 50 percent stakes, partnered by Enauta (30 percent) and US independent Murphy Oil (20 percent).
Brazilian state-controlled company Petrobras has made a sextet of light oil discoveries and is planning to install two floating production, storage, and offloading vessels in the basin.
Before drilling Cutthroat-1, ExxonMobil spudded two exploration wells in the Brazilian pre-salt province, but results from the campaigns at Opal-1 in Block C-M-789 in the Campos basin and at Tita-1 in the Tita production sharing contract remain unclear.
For more information visit corporate.exxonmobil.com
