Shell Confirms Deepwater Oil Discovery Offshore French Guiana

As part of the Tullow-operated joint venture, Shell confirmed Friday an oil discovery in the Guyane Maritime permit approximately 150-kilometers offshore French Guiana.

The GM-ES-1 well is being drilled in a water depth of over 2,000 meters and to date has drilled to a depth of 5,711 meters. The well has encountered over 70-meters of net oil pay in two objectives. The joint venture plans to drill ahead to the planned target depth.

“We are pleased with the preliminary results of this first ever deepwater well offshore French Guiana,” said Dave Lawrence, Shell’s executive vice president Exploration and Commercial. “We are early in the evaluation, but the initial results are encouraging for this new play. The joint venture will continue to drill ahead, evaluate the well results, and determine next steps.”

French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west.

Shell acquired an initial equity interest of 33% in the joint venture in 2009 and increased its equity interest to 45% in 2010, subject to government approval. The joint venture is currently operated by Tullow (27.5%) with additional equity interest held by Total (25%) and Northpet (2.5%), a company owned 50% by Northern Petroleum plc and 50% by Wessex Exploration plc.