SHELL PUSHES TLP PROJECT OFF LOUISIANA

Shell Offshore Inc. has let contracts totaling $475 million for components of its Auger development project in Garden Banks Block 426 off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Installation in 1993 of a tension leg platform (TLP) in a record water depth of 2,860 ft is included in the agreements. McDermott Inc. will fabricate the TLP deck, mate the deck and hull, and install the TLP, lateral mooring system, and deepwater pipelines. Belleli SpA will fabricate the hull, and Sonat Inc. will perform

Aug. 13, 1990

2 min read

Shell Offshore Inc. has let contracts totaling $475 million for components of its Auger development project in Garden Banks Block 426 off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Installation in 1993 of a tension leg platform (TLP) in a record water depth of 2,860 ft is included in the agreements.

McDermott Inc. will fabricate the TLP deck, mate the deck and hull, and install the TLP, lateral mooring system, and deepwater pipelines. Belleli SpA will fabricate the hull, and Sonat Inc. will perform initial development drilling.

Sonat's George Richardson semisubmersible rig began drilling Auger wells last May.

PRODUCTION, COST

Shell Offshore expects Auger oil and gas production, which will begin in late 1993, to peak at 40,000 b/d of oil and 150 MMcfd of gas. Early estimates place ultimate recovery at about 220 million bbl of oil equivalent.

The Auger project will cost Shell Offshore about $1.3 billion. About 80% will be spent for installation, development drilling, production facilities, and pipelines. The balance will be allocated to fabricating hull and deck.

The Auger project lies 214 miles southwest of New Orleans. It includes Garden Banks Blocks 426, 427, 470, and 471.

Shell Offshore Pres. R.L. Howard said 175 U.S. Gulf Coast companies have received Auger contracts accounting for about 70% of total dollars awarded.

Shell Offshore, the leading lessee in the Gulf of Mexico, set a water depth drilling record in 1987 with a wildcat in 7,520 ft of water in Mississippi Canyon Block 657. In 1988 the company set Bullwinkle, the world's tallest fixed platform, in 1,350 ft of water in Green Canyon Block 65.