
Shell plc, through its subsidiary Shell Offshore Inc., has announced that it has made a final investment decision (FID) to proceed with a waterflood project for the Vito field in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Waterflooding is a means for improving secondary production. It involves injecting water into a reservoir in order to displace oil towards adjacent wells and increase the pressure in the reservoir.
Three wells that were originally drilled as pre-producers will be used to inject the water. Shell, which also makes lubricant and grease products, says that it is the US Gulf of Mexico’s leading operator for deepwater production. It says its crude oil production there has one of the lowest intensities in the world in terms of greenhouse gases (GHGs).
The director for upstream and integrated gas at Shell, Zoë Yujnovich, said:
“Over time, we’ve seen the benefits of waterflood as we look to fill our hubs in the Gulf of Mexico. This investment will deliver additional high-margin, lower-carbon barrels from our advantaged Upstream business while maximising our potential from Vito.”
The Vito field was discovered in July 2009 about 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, some 75 miles south of Venice, Louisiana, and just 10 miles south of the Mars TLP that Shell operates. When it comes online in 2027, it should increase the volume of recoverable resources by 60 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Shell is planning to keep its oil production steady at 1.4 million barrels per day through to 2030.