Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Shell Offshore Inc. has made a significant oil discovery at the Leopard prospect in Alaminos Canyon block 691 in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.
The Leopard well encountered more than 600 ft (183 m) net oil pay at multiple levels. Evaluation is ongoing to further define development options, the company said.
Leopard is operated by Shell (50%) and co-owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (50%).
Transocean’s ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Thalassa drilled the discovery well in 6,800 ft (2,070 m) of water, Shell confirmed in an email to Offshore.
Paul Goodfellow, Shell’s Deepwater Executive Vice President, said: “Leopard expands our leading position in the Gulf of Mexico and is an exciting addition to our core portfolio, especially given its proximity to existing infrastructure and other discoveries in the Perdido Corridor.
“With our US Gulf of Mexico production among the lowest GHG intensity in the world, Shell remains confident about the GoM and this latest discovery will help us deliver on our strategy to focus on valuable, high margin barrels as we sustain material Upstream cash flows into the 2030s.”
According to the company, Leopard is an opportunity to increase production in the Perdido Corridor, where its Great White, Silvertip, and Tobago fields are already producing. The Whale discovery, also in the Perdido Corridor, is progressing toward a final investment decision in 2021.
Leopard is about 20 mi (32 km) east of the Whale discovery, 20 mi (32 km) south of the recently appraised Blacktip discovery, and 33 mi (53 km) from the Perdido host.
05/11/2021
