Shell: Suspending Drilling At Vito, Tobago Due To Moratorium

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSB) is suspending exploratory drilling operations at its Vito and Tobago prospects in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico due to a six-month drilling ban ordered by the federal government, the company said Wednesday.

"This suspension impacts a sidetrack well operation to our recent Vito deep water discovery and impacts planned drilling at our Tobago field, which is part of our recently announced Perdido Development," Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said in an email.

Another planned well for Shell's Appomattox discovery, previously scheduled to be drilled this summer, will now be postponed, the company said.

"We are currently evaluating our offshore business plan for the months ahead," op de Weegh said.

The Obama administration ordered last week a halt in ongoing drilling exploration in the Gulf of Mexico's deep water and extended to six months a drilling ban it had ordered after the explosion and sinking of a Transocean Ltd. (RIG) platform that has resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The rig was leased by BP PLC (BP).

Shell, one of the largest oil and gas producers in the Gulf, has four semisubmersible drilling rigs under contract in the Gulf of Mexico. The company also operates four additional drilling rigs on its production platforms--Auger, Ursa, Mars and Perdido.

Other large operators in the area, such as Chevron Corp. (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Marathon Corp. (MRO), have also stopped exploratory drilling due to the moratorium.

-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9207; isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com

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