Shell makes deepwater gulf oil find with Whale well near Perdido

Shell Offshore Inc. has added to its Paleogene exploration success in the Perdido area in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico with a discovery in its Whale well. The well encountered 1,400 net ft of oil-bearing pay, Shell said. Evaluation of the discovery is ongoing, and appraisal drilling is under way to further delineate the discovery and define development options.

Whale is operated by Shell 60% and co-owned by Chevron USA Inc. 40%. It was discovered on the Alaminos Canyon Block 772, adjacent to the Shell-operated Silvertip field 10 miles from the Shell-operated Perdido platform.

The discovery “offers a combination of materiality, scope, and proximity to existing infrastructure,” said Marc Gerrits, Royal Dutch Shell PLC executive vice-president.

Through exploration, Shell has added more than 1 billion boe resources in the last decade in the gulf.

Shell currently has three deepwater projects in the gulf under construction: Appomattox, Kaikias, and Coulomb Phase 2. It also has investment options for additional subsea tiebacks and in Vito, a potential new hub in the region. Shell expects its global deepwater production to exceed 900,000 boe/d by 2020 from already discovered, established areas.