Noble Energy has finished drilling its Silvergate exploration well, located in Mississippi Canyon Block 339 in the Gulf of Mexico, but failed to find hydrocarbons there.
The well will be plugged and abandoned, the NYSE-listed company said in a filing today.
Next, Noble Energy’s drilling rig will begin drilling an appraisal well at the Katmai oil discovery in Green Canyon Block 39 to see if the field holds more than the 40m to 60m bbl of oil discovered there in 2014.
Results from the appraisal well are expected early in the fourth quarter of 2016, Noble said. A potential development would “likely” involve a subsea tie-back into existing infrastructure at the field, which is operated by the company.
Noble said its exploration spend during the first quarter of 2016 is expected to be close to $170m.
