After $90 million spent, US firm abandons exploration at Nicaragua oil well

November 15^th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) U.S. firm, Noble Energy has given up on an exploratory oil well in Nicaragua, dubbed “Paradise 1,” after spending $90 million at the site.  The firm concluded that there was not oil in sufficient quantities to justify further investment in the site.

The company was initially so confident in the Paradise 1 well that it sent its Senior Vice President, Susan Cunningham to Managua five months ago to express the company’s commitment to the project that it now must abandon.

In a statement, the company said it was “disappointed” with the results, which included three months of work an $90 million invested, but said there were some “positive observations” during the work.

“We are disappointed that the well did not lead to a discovery, [but] there were several positive observations during drilling,” said Mike Putnam, VP of Exploration and Geosciences for the firm.

“…Information obtained [from the drilling] will be integrated into our regional geological model to help us evaluate the exploration potential remaining on our position of nearly two million acres offshore of Nicaragua,” the firm said.

The company must now decide if it will make another attempt at “Banco Isabel,” located 120 kilometers east-southeast of Bilwi, off Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean.

Nicaragua’s plans to exploit offshore oil has caused controversy this year with its neighbor to the south, Costa Rica, which claims some such waters as its own.