Oil major Shell has started production from its Vito offshore platform in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM).
"With an estimated peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, Vito is the company's first deep-water platform in the GoM to employ a simplified, cost-efficient host design," Shell said.
The Vito development, sanctioned in April 2018, is owned by Shell Offshore Inc. (63.11% operator) and Equinor (36.89%). Estimated recoverable resources are around 290 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Originally discovered in 2009, the Vito field spans four Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks in the Mississippi Canyon and is located at a depth of more than 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) of water.
The platform, Shell's 13th deep-water host in the Gulf, is located some 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans and 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the Shell-operated Mars TLP. Vito will produce into Shell Midstream's Mars Pipeline system.
The Vito platform is a four-column, semi-submersible facility with eight subsea wells (31,000 feet or 9,400 meters) with a deep (18,000 feet or 5,500 metres) in-well, gas lift, and associated subsea flowlines and equipment.
In 2015, the platform design was rescoped and simplified, which, according to Shell, led to a reduction of about 80% in CO2 emissions over the platform's lifetime. The redesign also led to a cost reduction of more than 70% from the original host concept.
Also, Vito serves as the design standard for Shell's Whale project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which will feature a 99% replication of the Vito hull and 80% of Vito's topsides.