Repsol Hits More Oil In Gulf Of Mexico Shenzi Field
October 30 2009 - 12:30AM
Dow Jones News
Spanish oil firm Repsol YPF SA (REP,REP.MC) has struck more oil
in two wells in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in what a company spokesman
calls a "fairly sizable" oil find.
Repsol found the crude in wells of the Shenzi field, where it
and production operator BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP,BHP.AU) started
output in June, Repsol Chairman and Chief Executive Antonio Brufau
told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview last week.
The companies currently produce about 120,000 barrels of oil of
crude a day from Shenzi, already surpassing initial production
targets for an output of 100,000 barrels a day.
Repsol, with a 28% stake, is leading exploration at the deep
offshore field, while BHP is lead operator for production from the
field, with a 44% stake. Hess Corp. (HES) also holds a 28% stake in
Shenzi.
Repsol said it has discovered an additional 497-foot oil column
in the G104 well of the Shenzi field, where earlier a 68-foot oil
column had been found deeper under the seabed.
"Further evaluation is underway to assess the future development
potential of these shallower intervals," Repsol spokesman Kristian
Rix said.
The Repsol-led exploration consortium also found an additional
30-foot column in the Shenzi-8 appraisal well, where it already had
discovered a 100-foot oil column in November 2008.
Repsol didn't give a reserve estimate for the new finds, but Rix
said the two discoveries are "fairly sizable" and easy to bring on
stream due to their proximity to already producing wells.
"In four to five years, we could produce much more from Shenzi,"
Chairman Brufau said.
The new discoveries at Shenzi add to Repsol's recent streak of
massive discoveries.
On Sept. 17, a consortium including Repsol announced an oil
discovery in deep waters off the coast of Sierra Leone, which could
open up a whole new oil province off West Africa.
On Sept. 11, Repsol announced a gas discovery in shallow waters
of the Gulf of Venezuela, dubbed Perla, that it says contains an
estimated 1 billion to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or
BOE. Repsol will have a 32.5% stake of that if the field is going
to be developed.
Also in September, production tests indicated that the Guara
field in Brazil's Santos Basin contains a light crude and gas
volume of up to 2 billion BOE. Repsol has a 25% stake in the block
that contains Guara, while operator Petroleo Brasileiro SA
(PETR4.BR,PBR) holds 45% and BG Group (BG.LN,BRGYY) 30%.
Repsol shares closed 1.8% higher at EUR18.61 in Madrid on
Thursday.
-By Bernd Radowitz, Dow Jones Newswires;
bernd.radowitz@dowjones.com; +34-91-395-8125