Shell Offshore Inc. has let a contract to Sembcorp Marine Rigs & Floaters Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine Ltd., to construct and integrate the hull, topsides, and living quarters of the Vito semisubmersible floating production unit (FPU) in the Gulf of Mexico.
Vito, which lies in more than 4,000 ft of water about 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, is expected to reach peak production of 100,000 boe/d. The development has an estimated recoverable resource of 300 million boe (OGJ Online, Apr. 24, 2018).
Vito FPU’s four-column semisubmersible hull will support topsides weighing 9,200 tonnes. Shell last year signed a letter of intent with Sembcorp but that hinged on a final investment decision, finalized this year.
Shell said the FID was made with a forward-looking, break-even price estimated to be less than $35/bbl.
Plans call for a simplified host design and subsea infrastructure for Vito, a deepwater development covering four blocks in the Mississippi Canyon area. The development will consist of eight subsea wells with deep (18,000 ft) in-well gas lift and is expected to begin production in 2021.
In 2015, Shell began to redesign the Vito project, reducing cost estimates by more than 70% by simplifying the design and working with vendors in areas including well design and completions, subsea, contracting, and topsides design (OGJ Online, Nov. 30, 2016).
Shell owns and operates the Vito development with a 63.11% interest. Statoil USA E&P Inc. holds 36.89%.
