Green light for Shell deepwater project

HOUSTON, July 2, 2015 – Despite having scaled back on billions in mega-projects, Shell will move forward with its Appomattox deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company did not disclose an investment figure, but after undergoing 20-percent cuts, the cost is still expected to be in the billions.

The Appomattox platform will be Shell’s largest of eight in the Gulf of Mexico, where the company has operated for more than 60 years. It will produce from the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields, which together hold an estimated 650 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The super-major says the project could boost its Gulf of Mexico output by 60 percent over 2014 levels.

Shell owns a 79-percent stake in the project and partners with China National Offshore Oil Company subsidiary Nexen Petroleum, which holds the remaining 21 percent.

Since the oil price decline began last year, Shell has cancelled around $200 billion in large-scale projects, including an LNG plant in the US and a gas development in Saudi Arabia.

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