Shell’s offshore division has taken the final investment decision (FID) for Whale, a deepwater development in the US Gulf of Mexico
The Whale facility is located in Alaminos Canyon Block 773 and is adjacent to Shell’s Silvertip field, 322 km southwest of Houston.
The project will feature a 99% replicated hull and an 80% replication of the topsides from the existing Vito project, a four-column semi-submersible host facility located in the greater Mars Corridor. Whale will also feature energy-efficient gas turbines and compression systems, a semi-submersible production host in more than 2,600 m of water with 15 oil-producing wells.
Shell upstream director Wael Sawan said “Whale is the latest demonstration of our focus on simplification, replication and capital projects with shorter cycle times to drive greater value from our advantaged positions.”
Shell Offshore as operator holds a 60% stake in the development with Chevron accounting for the other 40%.
FID on the Whale project was delayed because of the pandemic, but Shell now hopes to be able to begin production in 2024, 7.5 years after the field was discovered.
Whale will be Shell’s 12th deepwater host in the Gulf of Mexico and is currently scheduled to begin production in 2024. Production is is expected to reach peak production of approximately 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and currently has an estimated, recoverable resource volume of 490M boe.
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