Shell Canada Ltd. has acquired a 20% interest in eight exploration licenses in the Orphan basin in the deepwater region offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The interest in the lands was acquired under a farm-in agreement with ExxonMobil Canada and Imperial Oil Resources.
"This farm-in is consistent with Shell Canada's renewed focus on growth – in this case, we're broadening the scope of our exploration activities by gaining access to a new, unexplored deepwater basin," says Dave Collyer, vice president of Shell Canada's Frontier division. "Advances in technology are allowing industry to pursue these challenging, but potentially high-reward, deepwater ventures. We look forward to returning to offshore Newfoundland, an area that we last explored in the early 1990s."
Chevron Canada Resources 50%, ExxonMobil Canada 25%, and Imperial Oil Resources 25% initially acquired the eight land parcels in the Orphan basin, 325 km offshore Newfoundland, in a land sale in December 2003. Under the terms of the agreement, ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil will each reduce its share by 10% to provide Shell with its 20% interest.
Current exploration plans call for 3D seismic acquisition in the summer of 2005.
03-04-05
