Shell announced a frontier exploration discovery offshore Gabon, West Africa. The well Leopard-1 encountered a substantial gas column with around 200 metres net gas pay in a pre-salt reservoir.
Leopard-1 is located around 145 kilometres off the Gabonese coast, west of Gamba. It was drilled in water 2,110 metres deep to a total vertical depth of 5,063 metres. Shell and partners are planning to undertake an appraisal programme to further determine the resource volumes.
“ Shell has been exploring in Gabon for over 50 years. This latest deep water discovery is a testament to the innovation of our explorers in pursuing new plays, and application of our global sub-surface expertise,” said Andy Brown , Shell Upstream International Director. “We are proud to be sharing this success with CNOOC Limited, our partner in the licence.”
Leopard-1 was drilled in license BCD10, operated by Shell (75%). Second partner in the venture is CNOOC Limited (25%).
This frontier discovery follows recent deep water exploration successes in the heartlands for Shell Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and Malaysia.