Cobalt International Energy Inc.’s Ligurian #2 exploratory well on Green Canyon Block 814 in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) reached objective total depth after having drilled through all of the targeted Miocene formations, however, the well did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons and operations are underway to plug and abandon the wellbore.

Once these plugging operations are finished, Cobalt will move the Ensco 8503 drilling rig to its North Platte #1 exploratory well location on Garden Banks Block 959 in the GoM offshore Louisiana. The North Platte prospect is a large four-way inboard Lower Tertiary structure. The gross unrisked resources for the North Platte prospect are estimated to be between 400 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) to 850 MMboe, and the combined gross unrisked resources for the greater North Platte complex is estimated to be more than two billion boe.

The North Platte #1 well is expected to take five to six months to drill and evaluate.