Shell confirms Gulf of Mexico discovery

Anglo/Dutch oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed its Kaikias field discovery, located in the Mars-Ursa basin, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Namely, the development potential of Kaikias could exceed 100 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable.

The company said that drilling of the Kaikias appraisal well had been done ahead of schedule and under budget achieving more than 20% savings.This was the longest well ever drilled by Shell at 34,500 feet measured depth.

Kaikias is located in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, approximately 60 miles offshore, south of the Louisiana coast. It is in close proximity to existing Shell infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell owns and operates three infrastructure hosts in the Mars-Ursa basin making it a key strategic hub.

According to Shell, near field infrastructure to the Kaikias well presents opportunities for cost efficiencies – potentially reducing the overall development cost.

Shell is the operator of the field with 100% interest. The company discovered Kaikias in August 2014, and appraisal drilling revealed more than 300 feet of net oil pay in August 2015.