Shell brings more US barrels to market by kick-starting Gulf of America oil project

Shell Offshore, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell, has flipped the production switch on at its subsea tie-back to an existing oil project in the Gulf of America (GoA), formerly known as the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM).

Shell sees the start of production at Dover, its second subsea tie-back connecting new wells to the existing infrastructure at its operated Appomattox production hub with up to two production wells produced through a 17.5-mile flowline and riser, as an expansion of its leadership position in the Gulf of America.

This project comes with an estimated peak production of 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company made a final investment decision (FID) in March 2023 for the project within Mississippi Canyon, approximately 170 miles (273.59 kilometers) offshore southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. The production was anticipated to begin in late 2024 or early 2025.

Commenting on the latest project to be brought online, Colette Hirstius, Shell’s Executive Vice President of Gulf of America, highlighted: “Shell continues to unlock more value from the prolific basins in our portfolio.

“Dover is another example of the ways in which we maximize the production of our deep-water hubs as we deliver on our strategy to create more value with less emissions. The high-margin, lower-carbon barrels from the Gulf of America are essential to our energy system, both now and in the future.”

The oil major discovered Dover in 2018 within Mississippi Canyon, around 170 miles offshore southeast of New Orleans in about 7,500 feet (circa 2,286 meters) of water. While Shell has a 100% working interest (WI) in this project, it operates Appomattox with 79% WI, with INEOS Energy Petroleum Offshore USA controlling the remaining 21%.

Based on current estimates, Shell claims that Dover will contain 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources, adding stable, secure energy resources that the United States and the world need today and in the future. Rydberg, as the first subsea tie-back to Appomattox, came online in February 2024.

The start-up of production at Dover comes less than two months after Shell Offshore and Shell Pipeline Company (SPLC) set the wheels into motion to buy ConocoPhillips’ interests in its assets in the Gulf of America.

Recently, Shell hired Subsea7 for a floating production system (FPS), which will work on another one of its deepwater developments in the same region.