Units of Shell and BP will spend $1.26 billion excluding lease costs to develop six widely-spaced deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico using an innovative floating, centralized, multiarm subsea production scheme.
Output from the project, to be known as Na Kika, is to start by mid-2003 in the eastern Mississippi Canyon area.
Shell Exploration & Production Co. and three other companies also revealed the Princess discovery on MC 765 north of Ursa field. Princess, not part of Na Kika, holds potential reserves greater than 200 MMBOE (see Newsletter, this issue).
Na Kika ultimately is to recover more than 300 MMBOE. It will initially involve development of five fields: Ariel (MC 429), East Anstey (MC 607), Fourier (MC 522), Herschel (MC 520), and Kepler (MC 383). Shell's Coulomb field (MC 657), primarily gas, is to be tied back to the host facility as capacity permits, probably around 2005.
Multifield development
Na Kika will be the gulf's first floating production system. It will be used to profitably develop 6 relatively small, dispersed fields. Shell/BP discovered the 5 fields in 1987-97, and Shell found Coulomb in 1988. Kepler, Ariel, and Herschel fields are mainly oil, and Fourier and East Anstey are primarily gas.
Coulomb lies 25 miles east of the planned site for the Na Kika FPS. Shell did not specify a block for the moored FPS but said it would be centered on the Na Kika fields. Measuring from Coulomb, this implies a site in the vicinity of MC 474.
The 5 Na Kika fields plus Coulomb are in 5,800-7,600 ft of water. The FPS will be based on a semisubmersible-shaped hull. No drilling module is needed because all wells will be satellite subsea wells tied back with insulated oil and uninsulated gas flow lines.
Shell will be pre-production operator responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of the production host facilities and subsea systems plus drilling and completion of the 10 development wells. BP will be post-production operator, handling host facilities operation and satellite fields surveillance. Shell said project sanction by Na Kika co-owner BP is pending.
Peak rates are expected to reach 325 MMcfd of gas and 100,000 b/d of 25-29° gravity oil, with oil and gas transported by pipeline to shore. Development drilling will start at Kepler field in 2001.
Combined flow from Na Kika and Shell's recently announced Serrano-Oregano and Brutus projects should push company deepwater output to more than 500,000 BDOE in early 2002.
