[US GOM] Mars / Olympus

[escveritas]

Shell’s Mars B development is the first deep-water project in the US Gulf of Mexico to expand an existing offshore oil and gas field with significant new infrastructure, which should extend the life of the greater Mars basin to 2050 or beyond.

First oil production begun in February 2014 from the Mars B development through Olympus, Shell’s seventh, and largest, floating deep-water platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Combined production from Olympus and Shell’s original Mars platform is expected to deliver an estimated resource base of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

The project is also directly investing $5 million dollars in community, social and environmental initiatives with the aim to benefit the communities of the US Gulf Coast, as well as in South Korea, where the hull of the Olympus platform was built.

Shell’s Mars B development is the first deep-water project in the US Gulf of Mexico to expand an existing offshore oil and gas field with significant new infrastructure, which should extend the life of the greater Mars basin to 2050 or beyond.

First oil production begun in January 2014 from the Mars B development through Olympus, Shell’s seventh, and largest, floating deep-water platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Combined production from Olympus and Shell’s original Mars platform is expected to deliver an estimated resource base of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Olympus is a tension leg platform (TLP) featuring 24 well slots, a self-containing drilling rig, and capability for subsea tie-backs.

In addition to the Olympus drilling and production platform, the Shell Mars B development includes subsea wells at the West Boreas and South Deimos fields, export pipelines, and a shallow-water platform, located at West Delta 143, near the Louisiana coast.

Olympus sits in approximately 3,100 feet of water (945 metres). Using the Olympus platform drilling rig and an additional floating drill rig, development drilling will enable ramp up to an estimated peak of 100,000 boe per day in 2016. The Mars field produced an average of over 60,000 boe per day in 2013.

The Mars field was discovered by Shell in 1989 and has contributed significantly to US energy supply. A combination of factors produced the growth enabled by Mars B, including improved understanding of the reservoir and recovery potential by using advanced seismic and modeling technologies, as well as new discoveries in the Mars field.


Location: Gulf of Mexico; 130 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Mississippi Canyon area
Depth: Water depth ~3,100 feet
Interests: Shell (71.5% & operator) and BP (28.5%)
Fields: Mars, West Boreas, South Deimos
Production: Combined development has potential to deliver production rates in the order of ~100k boe/d.

[escveritas]

Shell Adds Deep-Water Production in the Gulf of Mexico with PowerNap

Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Shell plc, today announces the start of production at PowerNap, a subsea development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with an estimated peak production of 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). PowerNap is a tie-back to the Shell-operated Olympus production hub in the prolific Mars Corridor.

“Shell has been producing in the Mars Corridor for more than 25 years, and we continue to find ways to unlock even more value there,” said Zoe Yujnovich, Shell Upstream Director. “PowerNap strengthens a core Upstream position that is critical to achieving our Powering Progress strategy and ensuring we can supply the stable, secure energy resources the world needs today and in the future.”
Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where our production is among the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity in the world for producing oil. Our global deep-water portfolio represents two core positions in our Upstream business with prolific basins in the US and Brazil, along with an exciting frontier exploration portfolio in Mexico, Suriname, Argentina and West Africa. Shell designs and operates its deep-water projects to be competitive and economically resilient, and since 2015, has reduced unit development costs by 50% and unit operating costs by 40%.

Notes to editors

• Shell discovered PowerNap in 2014.

• 100% developed by Shell, it is located in the south-central Mississippi Canyon area approximately 240 kilometres (~150 miles) from New Orleans in about 1,280 metres (~4,200 feet) of water.

• PowerNap is a subsea tie-back to the Shell operated Olympus TLP, with three production wells produced through a single insulated 19-mile flowline and high-pressure gas lift capability.

• Shell operates Olympus with a 71.5% working interest, with BP controlling the remaining 28.5%.

• PowerNap production will be transported to market on the Mars pipeline, which is operated by Shell Pipeline Company LP and co-owned by Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (71.5%) and BP Midstream Partners LP (28.5%).

• PowerNap is expected to produce up to 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) at peak rates.