Sembcorp Marine delivers giant platform for Shell’s Gulf of Mexico project

Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine has completed the Vito Regional Production Facility (Vito RPF) for Shell’s deepwater project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Vito is a Shell-operated deepwater development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico sanctioned in April 2018. Located over four blocks in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico, the Vito development will consist of eight subsea wells with deep (18,000 feet) in-well gas lift.

Shell selected Sembcorp Marine to build and integrate the hull, topsides, and living quarters of the Vito semi-submersible unit in May 2018.

The Vito RPF is Sembcorp Marine’s first floating production unit (FPU). It was delivered by the company’s Tuas Boulevard Yard. As previously reported, the integration of mega-topsides with a hull for the Vito unit was completed in October 2021.

The integration of Vito’s topside structure with its hull was executed by a pair of goliath cranes with 30,000-tonne combined lifting capacity and 100-metre hook height in Tuas Boulevard Yard.

Sembcorp Marine informed on Thursday that the Vito FPU was successfully delivered to Shell on 27 December 2021 and the platform departed Tuas Boulevard Yard for Singapore’s anchorage to prepare for loadout and its sail away to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Vito host will be located at a water depth of 1,234m in the Mississippi Canyon Block 984, 241km south of New Orleans, Louisiana. The project is expected to reach peak production of approximately 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. The development currently has an estimated, recoverable resource of 300 million boe.

Wong Weng Sun, Sembcorp Marine President & CEO, said: “We would like to thank Shell for their strong teamwork and steadfast support in overcoming the challenges and constraints brought on by COVID-19. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Shell for the Whale Host Facility (WHF).”

Sembcorp Marine is currently undertaking the construction of a second FPU project for Shell, involving the fabrication and integration of the FPU topsides, living quarters and hull, for the Whale development located in the United States Gulf of Mexico.