U.S. oilfield services firm Gate Energy has won a deal with Shell for facility commissioning of the recently sanctioned Whale development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Shell last month reached a final investment decision for the Whale deepwater field development. Discovered in 2017, Whale will feature a semi-submersible production host in more than 8,600 feet (2621 meters) of water with 15 oil-producing wells.
The floating production unit will, when it comes to the hull, be a 99% replica of Shell's Vito project. The topside will be an 80% replication of the topsides from Vito, a four-column semi-submersible host facility located in the greater Mars Corridor. Vito is scheduled to begin production in 2022.
Gate has won a contract on the back of the current execution scope for the provision of commissioning services for Shell's Vito facility that is currently underway. The associated scope includes commissioning planning, onshore commissioning execution, and offshore commissioning / ready-for-startup services. Gate did not say how much the deal was worth.
The Whale development is owned by Shell Offshore Inc. (60%, operator) and Chevron (40%); the field is located beneath more than 8,000 ft of water, approximately 200 miles southwest of Houston, and is currently scheduled to begin production in 2024.