Shell Reveals Fort Sumter Discovery
Thursday 28 July 2016
Shell has finally revealed that it made a discovery at its Fort Sumter deep-water prospect in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The Anglo-Dutch supermajor said it has struck recoverable resources of with an initial estimate of "more than 125 million barrels of oil equivalent" at the find in Mississippi Canyon Block 566.
"Further appraisal drilling and planned wells in adjacent structures could considerably increase recoverable potential in the vicinity of the Fort Sumter well," Shell said on Thursday.
It brings the total amount of resources discovered by Shell in the US Gulf since 2010 to around 1.3 billion boe, coming after discoveries at Appomattox (2010), Vicksburg (2013) and Rydberg (2014).
Shell drilled the Fort Sumter wildcat last year with the drillship Noble Globetrotter I in water depths of 2152 metres, to a total vertical drilling depth of 8539 metres. An appraisal sidetrack was then drilled to 8900 metres.
Shell has kept the objective of the Fort Sumter well under wraps. It was presumed, however, that the target was below the BP-operated Fourier gas field, which has been producing through the Na Kika floating production platform since 2003.
Shell owns deep rights on the block, below 22,200 feet (6767 metres), according to US records.