Shell to head joint development of three Lower Tertiary fields in Gulf

Shell Offshore and its partners in three Lower Tertiary discoveries in “ultra-deepwater” Gulf of Mexico have decided to combine the fields — Great White, Tobago and Slivertip — into a single hub development located in Alaminos Canyon, with first production “around the turn of the decade,” Shell said Oct. 26.

The project is called the Perdido Regional Development and will be designed to process daily 100,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of natural gas, Shell said, noting that the hub or “spar” installation would be moored in about 8,000 feet of water.

The concept for regional development includes a common processing hub in Alaminos Canyon Block 857 near the Great White discovery that incorporates “drilling capability and functionality” to gather, process and export production within a 30-mile radius of the facility, Shell said.

The regional concept also would reduce costs and lower risk, plus reduce the number and size of the facilities and operations, the company added.

However, Shell did not say whether production from the three fields would be transported ashore via pipeline or by ocean tanker.

“This geologic setting is different from what has previously been produced in the Gulf of Mexico and will establish the first production from the Lower Tertiary (Paleogene) play in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Marvin Odum, Shell’s executive vice president, E&P Americas. Shell is the project operator with a 35 percent interest, followed by Chevron with a 37.5 percent stake and BP with a 27.5 percent interest.

—Ray Tyson