Shell has started oil production from its Cardamom subsea development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Located in Garden Banks Block 427, about 362km south-west of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Cardamom field is expected to produce about 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d).
Shell is piping oil from the Cardamom development to its existing Auger platform, which is expected to produce 130,000boe/d.
Shell Upstream Americas director Marvin Odum said: “Cardamom is a high-value addition to Shell’s production at the Auger platform and is another example of our excellence in deepwater project delivery.
“The work to extend the production life of our first deepwater tension-leg platform is impressive and involved advanced exploration and development technology. Our additional opportunities in deepwater mean that this will remain an important, high-return growth area for Shell.”
Shell has modified Auger platform in the past several years with additional subsea receiving equipment, an upgrade of an existing process train, and weight mitigation.
The completed subsea system consists of five well expandable manifolds, a dual 8in flowline, and eight well umbilicals.
The Cardamom field is the second deepwater facility Shell has brought online in the Gulf of Mexico in 2014 following the start-up of Mars B in February.
The company has also discovered oil at its Kaikias well in the Mars basin, which needs additional appraisal in 2015.
In August 2014, Shell started oil production from its Bonga North West deepwater development off the coast of Nigeria and made a natural gas discovery at Marjoram-1 deepwater well in Malaysia.
