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Stone Energy Corporation provided an operational update on its Cardona deepwater development project.

The Cardona project initial production testing started in late November and the two wells (Cardona 4 and 5) have been tested and will be closely monitored with flow rates ramping up over a four week period.

The wells are expected to reach a combined gross production volume of 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during this period. The Cardona wells (65% working interest) are flowing to the Stone owned (100% w.i.) and operated Pompano platform, where no incremental net operating expense is expected.

The Cardona subsea facility allows for the tie-in of two additional wells, which are currently scheduled to be the Cardona 6 and 7 wells projected to be drilled in 2015.

“We are excited to announce that the Cardona deep water development project came online in November, ahead of its sanctioned schedule and under budget. The successful execution of the Cardona project is an important milestone for Stone Energy as it is projected to bring significant production and cash flow to the company. Our team was able to commence production on this deep water project less than one year after the first well commenced drilling, which is a best-in-class timetable. The planning, preparation and successful start-up on the Cardona project demonstrates our deep water development capabilities. We hope to build on this success as we initiate our multi-year deep water drilling program in mid-2015, which we expect will feature both development and exploration drilling,” the company said.

Separately, the Madison exploration well (Mississippi Canyon 479) spud in late October of 2014 and is expected to be at the targeted depth in early 2015. Stone currently controls a 40% working interest in the prospect, which is operated by Noble Energy. Additionally, drilling at both the Vernaccia prospect (32% w.i. - Mississippi Canyon 34/35) and the Harrier prospect (37% w.i. - Mississippi Canyon 118) is projected for the first quarter of 2015.