HOUSTON--At Hart Energy’s recent Gulf of Mexico Offshore Executive Conference, David Reid of Shell and Tore Loseth of Statoil ASA discussed their companies’ past, present and future in the Gulf of Mexico’s emerging plays amid Mexico’s energy reforms. Reid is the deepwater appraisal manager for Shell Upstream Americas and Loseth is the vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) at Statoil.

Shell “has been pivotal in writing the history of deepwater. I believe that we continue to write the current chapter with our ongoing commitment to the area,” Reid said.

Shell continually searches for good porosity in ever-deeper waters. Its “anchor” is the Mars Field. Advanced seismic technology has been used in the Mars, which has produced 800 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) since 1996. “There’s over 50 stacked, really high-quality reservoirs” there, Reid said.

Good results from seismic technology helped Shell make “a final investment decision” on a new tension-leg platform “twice the size of the original” to help extend recoverables, field life and profitability, he added. Mars is really “a technological story and a great reservoir that continues to give right here in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Another focus is the Lower Tertiary area, which also has “significant scope and volume. It’s deep, hot and it’s high-pressured.” Reid said EOR and artificial boosting technologies will allow further exploration; they will be “the gateway to unlocking the Paleogene” Lower Tertiary, especially the Stones Field, which is scheduled to come online in 2016. The field will be “the world’s deepest production system.”

Stones is part of the company’s Lower Tertiary “new frontier” that includes Appomattox, Olympus and Vito. This new venture comes after years of ups and downs that included the noncommercial Shiloh and Antietam discoveries in 2001 and 2009 and the dry hole discoveries at Fredericksburg, Petersburg and Swordfish in 2008, 2013 and 2014, respectively. First results from Gettysburg, currently being drilled, should be in during 2015’s first quarter, Reid noted.

Loseth said Statoil is also eyeing the Lower Tertiary. Its entire approach to the GoM, its “second core area,” will be “more focused and play-based,” he added. Statoil is the eighth-largest leaseholder, with about 230 leases and a range of plays being tested. It uses new technology and drills well on paper—in a chart of successive GoM drilling, “our second group was 64% more efficient than our first group, and our third group was 54% more efficient than our second group,” Loseth noted.

Statoil is drilling a well in a “very interesting, high-impact prospect not so far from Appomattox” that the company has high hopes for, he added. The company forecast that its production will increase, perhaps “four-fold, from some 27,000 barrels per day now to more than 100,000 barrels per day in the coming years.”

Both executives said Mexico’s new energy reforms will benefit all companies working in the GoM, which has produced about 19 Bbbl. Of that amount, 40% has been produced in the last 15 years. After 75 years, “Mexico is maybe going to be the next big thing in the Gulf,” Loseth said. Statoil, with a presence in Mexico since 2001, is assessing Round 1 opportunities. Pemex estimated that Mexico’s side of the Gulf could hold 27 Bboe of untapped resources, he noted.

Statoil entered the GoM in a wholly inorganic way, through joint ventures with “established key players,” Loseth said. It participated in “some of the big discoveries” including Julia, Vito and Heidelberg, and began its own projects in 2009. Since then, four out of nine wells have been dry and five have been noncommercial; Statoil is “pretty anxious to have our first operated commercial discovery,” Loseth said, noting in particular the recent, high-impact noncommercial Martin discovery.

Shell entered the GoM in 1978 with the Cognac platform in just 1,250 feet of water; now, its Stones project is in about 10,000 feet of water.

“What could be the potential on the Mexican side of the Gulf of Mexico?” Reid asked. “There’s a lot yet to find there, but it’s only going to be unlocked with the right fiscal terms and the right competitive climate.” Time will tell.

The same attention Shell pays to the details-- interpreting seismic data, looking for upside potential, extending known geological concepts, using water depth technology and using integrated appraisal and development teams—need to remain common threads for all companies throughout the reform and exploration process, he said.

“Geology and petroleum systems tend not to be constrained by country boundaries," Reid noted.