Shell commits to develop new Gulf deepwater field
Shell on Wednesday announced a $2.5 billion investment to develop its major Cardamom oil and gas field in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Cardamom project is expected to produce 50,000 bbl/day of oil equivalent (boe) at peak production and more than 140mn boe over its lifetime.
“Technological advances in seismic imaging and drilling have allowed us to both discover and access this new field,” said Marvin Odum, upstream Americas director for Shell.
“This is another sizeable deepwater investment by Shell that strengthens energy supplies to the US. It will also secure employment for more offshore workers.”
Shell’s rigorous global safety standards underpin the company’s approach to deepwater exploration and production, it said.
The oil major’s exploration plan for Cardamom was the first to receive approval since the lifting of the US government moratorium on Gulf drilling.
As a result of the final investment decision, Shell will move ahead with further development drilling and installing undersea equipment, it said.
Shell discovered the Cardamom reservoir in 2010 using advanced seismic technology that was able to produce improved images versus traditional seismic methods.
The discovery was confirmed by drilling a well from Shell’s Auger platform that broke records for length and depth. The exploration wells were drilled more than 6.4 kilometres (four miles) below the seabed.
Production from Cardamom will flow through the Auger platform, minimising the offshore footprint by using existing infrastructure.
The development of the Cardamom field is the latest step in Shell’s deepwater energy production activities in the Gulf, the company said.
Perdido, the world’s deepest offshore production facility, came onstream in 2010. Later that year, Shell announced the decision to go ahead with a second platform in the Mars B field, it said.
Wednesday’s final investment decision for Cardamom is in line with Shell’s continued drive to increase global oil and gas production, officials said.
The rapid progress from discovery of the reservoir to the launch of development plans represents Shell’s ability to move forward with projects of major value, it said.
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