Shell lets Gulf of Mexico lease expire

Shell has let its Walker Ridge Block 96 lease, part of its 2013 Yucatan discovery, in the US Gulf of Mexico expire, a company spokesperson told Upstream Online on Wednesday.

The block had been considered a likely choice for co-development with US producer Anadarko Petroleum’s Shenandoah field, thought to hold 500 million or more barrels of oil. Shell acquired the operatorship from Anadarko with a 42.37-percent stake in 2010.

Last year, Shell allowed the adjacent Walker Ridge 140 lease to expire, but the super-major and its partners still hold Walker Ridge 95, site of the 2013 Yucatan discovery well that hit more than 36 metres of net pay. The Walker Ridge 95 lease is set to expire in 2017.

Anadarko and its partners terminated leases at the Coronado discovery, another candidate for development with Shenandoah, in early February.

Shell was the top producer of oil in the Gulf of Mexico in 2014 with 89.4 million barrels.