Shell Brings Whale Platform On Stream in US Gulf of Mexico
January 10, 2025
Oil and gas major Shell has started the production at its deepwater Whale floating production facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Whale production facility is in the Alaminos Canyon Block 773 and is adjacent to the Shell-operated Silvertip field, around 10 miles (16 kilometres) from the Shell-operated Perdido platform and around 200 miles (320 kilometres) south of Houston.
Discovered in 2017, the Whale field will feature a semi-submersible production host in more than 8,600 feet (2,600 metres) of water with a total of 15 wells to be tied back to the host via subsea infrastructure.
Whale’s design closely replicates Vito, a four-column semi-submersible host facility located in the greater Mars Corridor, which began production in early 2023
With the overall height of the facility of 110 metres, and weighing around 25,000 tonnes, the Whale platform has been built to withstand 30-metre waves during hurricane season.
The platform was installed offshore in February 2024, after being built in Singapore and then transported by sea to a quayside in Texas, USA, before being towed into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Whale development is owned by Shell Offshore (60%, operator) and Chevron (40%).
“Whale demonstrates our focus on driving more value with less emissions from our Upstream business as we deliver the energy people need today. It will make a significant contribution to our commitment to bring projects online, with a total peak production of more than 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 2023 through 2025,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director.
With an estimated peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), 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 (GHG) intensity over its life cycle than Vito.
