Shell has failed to hit hydrocarbons with its latest appraisal of the Zaedyus oil discovery off the northern coast of Latin America.
The company’s GM-ES-5 well, the final probe in its 2012-2013 four-well exploration program in the Guyane Maritime Permit offshore French Guiana, was drilled to a total depth of 6,460 m (21,195 ft) and will now be plugged and abandoned. Minority partner Northern Petroleum said in a press release that reservoir evaluation work was conducted, and the reservoir sequences were encountered as expected but with no evidence of hydrocarbons.
The consortium partners will now integrate the data from all the wells with 3-D seismic to determine future exploration plans on the license, which covers 24,100 sq km (9,305 sq miles). Once the drillship Stena ICEMax has completed the abandonment operations it will move to a different location outside French Guiana and be off contract.
“With the completion of this well, the joint venture [JV] will now concentrate on the integration of the data gathered over the last two years in French Guiana,” Keith Bush, Northern’s CEO, said in the release. “This will enable Northern to establish the value of the license to the company and determine the best route to realize that value.”
Fellow partner Tullow Oil added in a separate activity update that GM-ES-5 began drilling on Aug. 9 and was drilled into the water leg of the Zaedyus-1 oil pool to determine the oil-water contact.
Shell is the operator of the license with a 45% stake, with Tullow holding 27.5%, Total 25%, and Northpet Investments Ltd. 2.5% (a JV in which Northern holds a 52% ownership, with Wessex Exploration holding the remainder).
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