Shell strikes gas off west African coast

Oil & gas major Royal Dutch Shell has announced a "substantial" gas strike off the coast of west Africa at a majority-owned well.

Shell said its Leopard-1 about 90 miles off the Gabonese coast well found a substantial gas column with around 200 metres of net gas pay in a pre-salt reservoir.

Shell and partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are planning to undertake an appraisal programme of the well to further determine the resource volumes.

Shell owns 75% of the BCD10 licence which includes Leopard-1, with CNOOC owning the other 25%.

Shell's upstream international director Andy Brown said: "Shell has been exploring in Gabon for over 50 years. This latest deep water discovery is testament to the innovation of our explorers in pursuing new plays."

The frontier discovery follows recent deep water exploration successes in the heartlands for Shell Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and Malaysia.

Shell's B shares fell 10.5p or 0.46% to 2255p at 09:37 in London.