Shell starts production at Whale in the US Gulf of Mexico
Shell started production at the Shell-operated Whale floating production facility in the the Alaminos Canyon Block 773, adjacent to the Shell-operated Silvertip field, around 10 mi from the Shell-operated Perdido platform and around 200 mi south of Houston.
Discovered in 2017, the Whale field will feature a semi-submersible production host in more than 8,600 ft of water with a total of 15 wells to be tied back to the host via subsea infrastructure. Leveraging the engineering and construction techniques used for Vito, as well as its supply chain, Whale was able to achieve first oil 7.5 years after discovery. With an estimated peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), Whale currently has an estimated recoverable resource volume of 480 million boe.
Whale replicates 99% of the hull design and 80% of the topsides from Vito. It also features energy-efficient gas turbines and compression systems, operating with around 30% lower greenhouse gas intensity over its life cycle than Vito.
The Whale development is owned by Shell (60%, operator) and Chevron (40%).
