Shell has kicked off the new year by spinning the bit at its Arbuckle prospect in the Green Canyon area of the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico.
The Anglo-Dutch supermajor was approved for a drilling permit on Green Canyon 420 on 10 January, more than three months after submission last October.
Transocean drillship Deepwater Proteus is carrying out the work. The site lies 104 miles (167 kilometres) offshore in about 3000 feet of water.
The
