Royal Dutch/Shell has established a deepwater technology division in recognition of the growing importance of deepwater prospects in its exploration and production portfolio.
Effective Jan. 1, 1998, Shell International Deepwater Services BV (SIDS) will act as a "center of excellence" for the company's worldwide deepwater operations, based in Rijswijk, near The Hague.
Shell recently has been expanding the range of deepwater exploration and development technology in the Gulf of Mexico and recently said that deepwater prospects represented its greatest opportunity for growth in conventional E&P terms (OGJ, Nov. 3, 1997, p. 26).
Among Shell's Gulf of Mexico water depth record-breakers are Auger, Mars, and Ram-Powell tension leg platforms and the Mensa subsea development brought on stream earlier this year in 1,645 m of water.
Tom Bourgeois, newly appointed general manager of the deepwater unit, said, "We have spent 30 years developing and understanding deepwater systems and have been able to take that knowledge to expand current technology and to apply it to our advantage.
"The new company has been created as a center of excellence that captures this learning and experience in all phases of the exploration and production cycle.
"Access to and integration of relevant expertise will enable SIDS to deliver services ranging from prospect evaluation and technology development to project implementation."
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