Shell Oil announced last week the "material" discovery of oil in the Blacktip North exploration field in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 220 miles southeast of Houston in the United States of America.

During excavations of the Blacktip North well, Shell found about 300 feet of crude oil in multiple levels, and an evaluation is now underway to further define development options.

Executive Vice President for Deepwater, Paul Goodfellow, said that the Blacktip North field is one of the latest examples of new resource discovery in its prime fields.

"Our strategic positions are at the heart of value creation in the Gulf of Mexico, and represent an opportunity to use our existing infrastructure to unlock the full value potential of our discoveries," Goodfellow noted.

The Blacktip North well was drilled to a total depth of 27,770 feet (about 8,464 meters). It is operated by Shell Offshore Inc (89,49%) and co-owned by Repsol E&P USA LLC (10,51%).

Shell said its Blacktip, Blacktip North and Leopard discoveries are opportunities to increase production in the "Lost Corridor," where Shell's Great White, Silvertip and Tobago fields are already in production.

The Blacktip North field is located in OCS's Alaminos Canyon (AC) 336 block, approximately 4.5 miles northeast of the recently evaluated Blacktip discovery, 25 miles northeast of the recently announced Leopard discovery, 30 miles northeast of the planned whale host platform, and 42 miles from the "Lost Corridor" host platform.

Earlier this year, Shell announced a final investment decision for the whale's deepwater development, also located in the "Lost Corridor."