Offshore staff
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia –The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) has awarded to Shell Canada Ltd. exploration rights for four deepwater parcels offshore southwestern Nova Scotia.
Shell submitted a work program totaling $970 million in expenditures during the first six years of the nine-year exploration license.
“The Board will proceed with issuing Exploration Licenses effective March 1, 2012, to Shell Canada Ltd. for these parcels, pending final Ministerial approval by both the Federal and Provincial governments,” said Stuart Pinks, CNSOPB CEO.
“We welcome the opportunity to return to exploration in offshore Nova Scotia, where we have had a continued exploration and production presence for over 40 years, since our first exploration well in the province,” said David Lawrence, executive vice-president, exploration and commercial, Shell Upstream Americas. “These new deepwater blocks represent an important addition to Shell's Global Exploration portfolio.”
No bids were received on the other four parcels included in Call for Bids NS11-1.
The next Call for Bids will be issued in May 2012 with nominations now being accepted until March 16, 2012.
The Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) project conducted by the government identified total hydrocarbon potential offshore Nova Scotia as an unrisked 120 tcf of gas and 8 Bbbl of oil in place.
The PFA identified and mapped large-scale potential traps that could contain gas, condensate, and/or oil deepwater. The major innovative result of the work is the prediction of a substantial oil play southwest of the margin (Zones 1 & 2 below). Using conservative parameters, the project estimates ~3.3 Bbbl of oil in place in this area. Large-scale gas/condensate opportunities also exist in the proven Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous clastic plays in the northeast part of the margin in deep water (Zones 3, 4, 5, and 6).
1/30/2012
