British-Dutch oil and gas firm Royal Dutch Shell has taken the final investment decision on the PowerNap deepwater project in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Discovered by Shell in 2014, the PowerNap field is located in the south-central Mississippi Canyon area, approximately 240km from New Orleans.

Expected to begin production in late 2021, PowerNap will be developed as a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Olympus production hub. Co-owned by BP Exploration and Production, the Olympus production hub started production in 2014.

Peak production from the PowerNap deepwater project, which is at a water depth of about 1,280 metres, is expected to be up to 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day(boe/d). The Mars pipeline will be used to transport the production from the PowerNap, which is estimated to contain more than 85 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources.

PowerNap deepwater project

Wael Sawan – Shell Upstream Director said: “PowerNap further strengthens Shell’s leading position in the Gulf of Mexico.

“It demonstrates the depth of our portfolio of Deep Water growth options, and our ability to fully leverage our existing infrastructure to unlock value.”

Shell is one of the major operators in the US Gulf of Mexico, operating nine production hubs and a network of subsea infrastructure.

Being the largest leaseholder, the company is one of the leading offshore producers of oil and natural gas in the US Gulf of Mexico.

In May 2019, Shell and its partners started production from the Appomattox floating production system in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The Appomattox field, located in a water depth of approximately 2,255m, is the first commercial discovery to begin production in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico Norphlet formation.

Shell Offshore is the operator of the field with 79% stake, with CNOOC Petroleum Offshore as its partner owning the remaining 21% stake.

Peak production capacity of the Appomattox field to estimated to be 175,000 boed.

  Olympus production hub, PowerNap, PowerNap deepwater project, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Offshore, US Gulf of Mexico, USA, Wael Sawan