Page 45: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2015)

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Geology & Geophysics

Subsurface imaging, but also handling the huge amounts of data now created by seismic surveys and fnding ways to share it, have been part of Shell’s exploration program. Photos from Shell.

New plays

New country entries in 2014/2015 have been Namibia, Myanmar and Algeria.

Shell is in the frst phases of deepwa- ter exploration offshore Namibia and

Myanmar, working through geology and geophysics, and acquiring seismic.

Namibia, on the Atlantic Margin, is a good example of the global connectivity of the subsurface. There is renewed inter- est in exploration onshore, partly because of technological advances in seismic imaging. Shell has recently entered

Algeria with partner Repsol, acquiring a licence in February 2015 in the Atlas

Mountains. In Oman, the company is carrying out wide azimuthing surveys onshore. There have also been successes in Albania and Egypt.

Shell is still preparing to drill offshore

Alaska, but there are no timings available at this point. It will depend upon the permitting requirements, the legislative requirements and whether Shell is conf- dent at the senior level that it can explore safely and responsibly, the company said.

development to deployment and support. In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, a TPAO in the Black Sea. Powell is aware the hurdles ahead. “I

Three years ago a series of local sup- big heartland for Shell, there were four The 41 near-feld discoveries represent am also very conscious of the fact that in port and development teams were set oil discoveries last year. These were: the an 85% success rate. These provide, 2015 we enter into another phase of vola- up, now numbering 26. These regional Rydberg oil discovery, the Kaikias oil “TD to cash as soon as possible,” says tility within the oil price,” she says. “It’s teams cover work fow support, deploy- discovery, Power Nap and Gettysburg. Powell, in areas such as Brunei, Egypt, part of our job to manage through those ment projects and data management. The The 100 MMboe Rydberg discovery Malaysia and Oman. “In Brunei, we are cycles of volatility, to make sure we don’t teams can orchestrate the deployment is in the Norphlet play. Together with now hooking-up wells within 30 days of lose capabilities. We don’t lose sight of of new software, making sure that the the Appomattox and Vicksburg dis- fnishing the well.” In Oman, Shell added the long-term.” Deepwater discoveries right hardware and operating systems are coveries, this brings the total potential 150 MMbbl of new oil last year from an can take eight, 10, 12 years before they in place. “That way we have connected Norphlet discoveries to over 700 MMboe. 11-well campaign. move into production. end-to-end the developers of the software Kiakas is very close to with the deployers of the software. Once Shell’s existing Mars a year we bring them all together.” infrastructure.

In 2014, Shell discov-

Exploration success ered Leopard 1, a pre-

Shell’s methods are bearing fruit, with salt offshore deep water exploration successes in Malaysia, the gas discovery (200m net

Gulf of Mexico and Gabon. gas pay) in block BCD10

In 2014 in Malaysia, there were nine offshore Gabon. This material discoveries. Two of the largest is a frontier region for discoveries, the Rosmari and Marjoram Shell and “potentially gas discoveries, added 200 MMboe to a very interesting new

Shell’s portfolio, and overall Malaysia arena,” Powell says. The added 300 MMboe. This included a intention is to appraise 100% track record in the near-feld it in 3Q 2015 with the exploration with fve out of fve well Globetrotter II drillship, successes. A cost cutting innovation in once it has completed the Malaysian campaign had been the use its current assignment of a shallow water rig to drill a deviated drilling the deepwater well into a deeper water prospect, thus Sile-1 wildcat for Shell halving the cost of the rig hire. in partnership with oedigital.com May 2015 | OE 47 046_OE0515_G&G1_Shell.indd 47 4/19/15 11:39 PM