Oil major Shell has this week announced "a material" discovery at the Blacktip North prospect in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, ~220 miles SSE of Houston.
Blacktip North is located in OCS block Alaminos Canyon (AC) 336, approximately 4.5 miles northeast of the recently appraised Blacktip discovery, 25 miles northeast of the recently announced Leopard discovery, 30 miles northeast of the planned Whale host platform, and 42 miles from the Perdido host platform.
According to Shell, the Blacktip North well encountered about 300 feet net oil pay at multiple levels, and evaluation is ongoing to further define development options.
The Blacktip North well was drilled to a total measured depth of 27,770 feet (~8464 meters). It is operated by Shell Offshore Inc (89.49%) and co-owned by Repsol E&P USA LLC (10.51%).
"The Blacktip North prospect is the latest example of discovering new resources in our advantaged corridors," said Paul Goodfellow, Executive Vice President of Deep Water. "Our strategic positions, like the Perdido Corridor, are at the heart of value creation in the Gulf of Mexico, and they represent an opportunity to use our existing infrastructure to unlock the full value potential of our discoveries."
Shell said that its Blacktip, Blacktip North, and Leopard discoveries are all opportunities to increase production in the Perdido Corridor, where Shell's Great White, Silvertip and Tobago fields are already producing.
Earlier this year, Shell announced a final investment decision for the Whale deep-water development, also located in the Perdido Corridor.