Seven of the deepwater exploratory wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023 (YTD) were spudded within 4.5 years of the effective date of their leases. Three of these wells were spudded within 3 years of their lease effective dates (see table below).
These are impressive achievements when you consider the time required for consultation with partners (if any) and contractors, site surveys, exploration plan development and approval, well planning, and drilling permit preparation and approval.
The subject wells accounted for 28% of the deepwater exploratory well starts in 2023 (25 net YTD wells after subtracting restarts at the same location).
| date lease effective | spud date | elapsed time (months) | water depth (ft) | operator |
| 3/1/2021 | 8/27/2023 | 30 | 6498 | Shell |
| 8/1/2020 | 5/21/2023 | 34 | 2211 | Talos |
| 8/1/2020 | 3/15/2023 | 31 | 3338 | Talos |
| 12/1/2019 | 6/5/2023 | 42 | 4228 | Chevron |
| 11/1/2019 | 6/1/2023 | 43 | 4603 | Hess |
| 7/1/2019 | 7/11/2023 | 48 | 7486 | Kosmos |
| 12/1/2018 | 6/6/2023 | 54 | 4127 | bp |
Below are the exploration plan (EP) and permit (APD) approval timeframes for these 7 wells. With the exception of the Kosmos EP which required a number of modifications, the regulator actions appear to have been timely. For the bp, Shell, and Chevron wells, only 4-6 months elapsed between EP submittal and APD approval.
| operator | block | date EP received | date EP approved | APD received | APD approved |
| Shell | WR 365 | 3/1/2023 | 5/17/2023 | 5/11/2023 | 8/8/2023 |
| Talos | GC 78 | 1/19/2021 | 4/16/2021 | 3/8/2023 | 5/26/2023 |
| Talos | MC 162 | 4/1/2022 | 7/13/2022 | 8/2/2022 | 3/2/2023 |
| Chevron | MC 937 | 12/7/2022 | 5/19/2023 | 4/21/2023 | 5/21/2023 |
| Hess | MC 727 | 8/30/2022 | 11/3/2022 | 12/21/2022 | 4/24/2023 |
| Kosmos | KC 964 | 1/3/2020 | 10/12/2022 | 4/18/2023 | 7/3/2023 |
| bp | GC 436 | 1/18/2023 | 4/14/2023 | 3/29/2023 | 6/5/2023 |
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
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