Energy giant Shell and Colombia’s state-owned oil and gas company Ecopetrol have recently discovered gas in the Gorgon-2 exploratory offshore well. Located in ultra-deep waters, 43.5 miles off  the southern Colombian Caribbean coast, with a water column of about 7,900 feet, it is the largest exploration in Colombia. With an overall depth greater than 13,100 feet, the well was drilled with a state-of-the-art deepwater vessel.

The newly drilled well marked the extension of the previous gas discovery made five years ago in Gorgon-1. Moreover, Ecopetrol has also demarcated that the findings within this well validated the presence of an entire offshore gas province in Colombia inclusive of the discoveries of Kronos (2015) and Purple Angel (2017).

In a recent release by Ecopetrol, its president, Felipe Bayón mentioned, “We are pleased to announce the completion of this ultra-deepwater exploration and delineation well. This result of the Gorgón-2 well will allow us to advance in the evaluation of these findings in the South Caribbean, which, in the event of eventual development, will allow increasing Colombia's gas reserves and supply the growing demand for this fundamental energy source for the energy transition that Ecopetrol and the country undertook”.

The partnership between the two companies is 50-50 with Shell being the operator and currently the two companies are exploring three regions along the Caribbean coast including South Caribbean blocks Col-5, Fuerte Sur, and Purple Angel. Together, the collaboration is looking to address the energy demand of the Caribbean region as a whole and looking for sustainable ways to explore and extract energy from fuel reserves.