Shell invests in water injection at Gulf of Mexico field

August 14, 2024 adhigo

HOUSTON, Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Shell plc, has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) on a ‘waterflood’ project at its Vito asset in the US Gulf of Mexico. Water will be injected into the reservoir formation to displace additional oil.

Shell's Vito platform in the Gulf of Mexico (photo courtesy of Shell)

The process is due to begin in 2027 and is expected to significantly enhance volume capacity at the Vito field.

“Over time, we’ve seen the benefits of waterflood as we look to fill our hubs in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. “This investment will deliver additional high-margin, lower-carbon barrels from our advantaged Upstream business while maximizing our potential from Vito.”

Waterflood is a method of secondary recovery where the injected water physically sweeps the displaced oil to adjacent production wells, while re-pressurizing the reservoir. The three water injection wells were all drilled as pre-producers.

Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where our production has among the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity in the world for producing oil.

Notes to editors

In July 2009, the Vito field was discovered in more than 4,000 feet of water approximately 75 miles south of Venice, LA, 150 miles southeast of New Orleans and 10 miles south of the Shell-operated Mars TLP.
In 2015, the original Vito host design was simplified and rescoped, resulting in a reduction of approximately 80% in CO2 emissions over the lifetime of the facility as well as a cost reduction of more than 70% from the original host design concept.
Shell (Operator 63.11%) and Equinor (36.89%) announced FID for the Vito development in April 2018, with first oil achieved in February 2023.
Given the properties of the Vito reservoir, energy is required to maximize the producing rate of existing wells and thus ultimate recovery.
The Vito waterflood project will increase recoverable resource volume by 60 million boe. The estimate of resources volumes is currently classified as 2P and 2C under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Resource Classification System.
The reference to our U.S. Gulf of Mexico production having among the lowest GHG intensity in the world is a comparison among other IOGP oil-and gas-producing members.
As communicated at Shell’s Capital Markets Day in 2023, we plan to see production stabilise at 1.4 million barrels per day of liquids to 2030.

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