Beacon Offshore Energy has launched oil and natural gas extraction from its Zephyrus field in Mississippi Canyon Block 759, located 130 miles (209 km) southeast of New Orleans in water depths of 3,100 ft (945 m) to 3,600 ft.
Production started from the initial Zephyrus #1 discovery well, drilled in 2023, which encountered significant oil reserves in the Middle Miocene Cris “I” aged M2 sand.
This milestone marks a key step in the field’s Miocene-aged development, leveraging existing infrastructure for efficiency.
The project advanced with the drilling of Zephyrus #2, reaching a total measured depth of 26,270 ft and identifying 116 net feet of pay across the M2 sand plus two additional Miocene sands, M0 and UM1.
Completion activities for this well are ongoing, with production expected by late Q1 2026.
To enable output, Beacon partnered with Shell Offshore, tying the field into Shell’s West Boreas subsea infrastructure over a nine-mile link equipped with a high-integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS).
This setup processes hydrocarbons at Shell’s Olympus platform in the Mars Corridor, reducing emissions, costs, and time to first production.
Beacon estimates 75 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) in P50 resources for Zephyrus, highlighting its potential in a prolific Gulf region.
Partners include Houston Energy, HEQ II, Red Willow Offshore, Westlawn Americas Offshore, and Murphy Exploration & Production, enabling shared expertise in deepwater operations.
This update follows Beacon’s success at the nearby Shenandoah field offshore Louisiana, where phase one ramped up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day (117,000 boe/d) across four wells by October 2025, following initial production in July 2025.
