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Proof that the Gulf of Mexico is booming concerns the number of places not just explored, but actually producing.
In September Shell announced that production is underway from its Cardamom development, the second major deep-water facility Shell has brought online in the Gulf of Mexico this year, following the start-up of Mars B in February.
Oil from the Cardamom subsea development is piped through Shell’s Auger platform. When at full production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Auger’s total production capacity will increase to approximately130,000 barrel equivalent per day.
“Cardamom is a high-value addition to Shell’s production at the Auger platform and is another example of our excellence in deep-water project delivery,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas director. “The work to extend the production life of our first deep-water, tension-leg platform is impressive and involved advanced exploration and development technology. Our additional opportunities in deep water mean that this will remain an important, high-return growth area for Shell.”
Since its first production in 1994, the facility has received several upgrades to process additional production from new discoveries.
Cardamom is Auger’s seventh subsea development. The Cardamom reservoir sits beneath thick layers of salt in rock more than 4 miles below the sea floor and went undetected by conventional seismic surveys.
Shell used the latest advancements in seismic technology to discover Cardamom in 2010. The Cardamom field is 225 miles southwest of New Orleans, in water more than 2,700 feet deep.
Other deep-water Gulf of Mexico growth for Shell includes the Mars B, which continues to ramp up production, and the ultra-deep-water Stones, which is under construction.
Front-end engineering and design is progressing for the Appomattox project; and, in a recent exploration success, Shell announced a major discovery at its Rydberg well.
Shell also discovered oil at its Kaikias well in the Mars basin, which will require further appraisal in 2015.
Shell’s $2.5 billion project to develop its Cardamom oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico marks the return of deepwater drilling in the region. Rather than build a free-standing facility, Shell is installing production equipment on the sea floor at Cardamom that will extract oil and gas and route it to Shell’s nearby Auger offshore platform, which is pictured.
