W&T Offshore has agreed to sell its interest in Garden Banks blocks 385 and 386 in the Gulf of Mexico for $12.3 million, the company said in an operations update.
This has recently been producing about 195 boe/d net. The transaction should close later this month.
By the middle of the second quarter, the company expects its West Delta 73 field, which it acquired last January from Cox Operating LLC, to be back in service. W&T entered into a resolution with the third-party pipeline operator at the field, adding that certain details remain subject to finalization by the court.
And the Main Pass 108 and 98 fields, shut in since June last year due to third-party operator-related bankruptcy issues, should also return to production by early this spring. Their combined net production prior to the shutdown was averaging 6.1 MMcf/d of gas.
W&T was obliged to halt operations at the fields following a directive from the US Department of Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, related to a shut-in of midstream infrastructure not owned by W&T.
However, the company had signed a purchase agreement and other arrangements to acquire this infrastructure, and this should allow production to be restored soon, subject to obtaining necessary governmental approvals and permits, along with customary closing conditions.
In February 2023, during a turnaround of the Mobile Bay plant, the MB 78-1 well was shut in but did not return to production following completion of the planned maintenance.
W&T filed a claim under its Energy Package Policy; last month, the company and the underwriters of the policy agreed to a settlement of claims of about $58.5 million.
Prior to the planned turnaround, the well had been producing about 6.7 MMcfe/d net (almost 90% gas).
