Shell Announces Deep-water Gas Discovery In West Africa's Gabon

(RTTNews) - European oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L, RDS-A) Wednesday announced a frontier exploration discovery offshore Gabon, West Africa. The company noted that the well Leopard-1 encountered a substantial gas column with around 200 metres net gas pay in a pre-salt reservoir.

Leopard-1, located off the Gabonese coast, west of Gamba, was drilled in water 2,110 metres deep to a total vertical depth of 5,063 metres. Leopard-1 was drilled in license BCD10, operated by Shell with 75 percent stake, and the second partner in the venture is CNOOC Limited (CEO), with 25 percent stake.

Shell said the company and its partners are planning to undertake an appraisal programme to further determine the resource volumes.

Andy Brown, Shell Upstream International Director, said, "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. We are proud to be sharing this success with CNOOC Limited, our partner in the licence."

According to Shell, this frontier discovery follows recent deep water exploration successes in the heartlands for Shell Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and Malaysia.

In Amsterdam, Shell shares were losing 0.46 percent, and trading at 27.30 euros.