Esso-Rep Exploration History in Aquitaine, France

As a couple of discoveries were made along the Pyrenean foothills a permit covering a large part of North Aquitaine was awarded 100% in 1951 to the Standard Oil of New Jersey. In 1954 the 2nd well was drilled and discovered right ahead the largest oil field of Aquitaine (250Mbo). Esso-Rep created to exploit the field found another 7 smaller fields totalling about 150Mbo. This golden age was followed by a long period of disappointments in the offshore and South Aquitaine. Hopefully activity resumed in the 90’s with a return to homeland Parentis and a few minor discoveries. In 2004 another failure sounded the end of exploration in Aquitaine and soon in France. Esso-Rep was sold in 2006 to Vermilion, a Canadian company.

The second part of this review presents the major achievement of Esso-Rep exploration in Aquitaine, the discovery of the Parentis Basin, a previously unknown failed arm of the rift system.