Initial drilling indications seen as ‘encouraging’ at Shell’s high-impact North Sea gas prospect

While the preliminary findings indicate the presence of gas, the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell is continuing activities at its high-impact gas prospect in the UK sector of the North Sea, thus, more information will be available following a comprehensive review.

Once it became the operator of the P2437 license, following a positive well investment decision for the Selene exploration well in July 2022 and the approval from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), Shell greenlighted the 2024 work program and budget and hired a jack-up rig from Valaris for a two-well drilling campaign, after the geotechnical site investigation works on the preferred surface location of the well site were completed.

A few days after the Valaris 123 jack-up rig embarked on a journey from the Central North Sea on July 21 toward the Selene well location in the Southern North Sea, the UK began drilling operations at the exploration well 48/8b-3, anticipated to take approximately 90 days.

The company’s partner, Deltic Energy, has confirmed that these operations are still ongoing on the high-impact Selene exploration well, which reached its total target depth of 3,540 meters on October 17, 2024, and encountered a 160-meter thick section of Leman Sandstone with gas present throughout.

Even though initial observations are seen as “encouraging,” Deltic has decided to exercise caution and wait for further results from the logging and fluid sampling operations before providing a comprehensive update. The firm has a 25% working interest in the Selene license in the heart of the long-established Leman Sandstone gas play in the Southern North Sea.

If a commercial gas discovery is confirmed, the intention would be to proceed directly to field development planning as further appraisal drilling is not considered necessary to support a future development investment decision.

The Selene prospect is estimated to hold gross P50 prospective resources of 318 bcf – P90 to P10 range of 132 to 581 bcf – with a geological chance of success of 69% and said to be one of the largest unapprised structures in the Leman Sandstone fairway of the Southern Gas Basin.

Shell is currently working on developing multiple assets, including the ones in Trinidad and Tobago for which the firm hired KBR to handle engineering and procurement services to upgrade work related to a gas development project, which is envisioned to boost the liquified natural gas (LNG) arsenal in the country.

The UK player is also making final preparations to kick off a geophysical and geotechnical survey on a project set to export gas from a field in Venezuela to the firm’s platform offshore Trinidad and Tobago, marking the start of preliminary work on the project.