(Bloomberg) -- Shell Plc began production at its ‘Whale’ floating facility in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected to reach daily peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent.
There are an estimated 480 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent at the field, which is in waters near other Shell developments including the Vito platform, which started in 2023, the London-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Whale is owned 60% by Shell, the operator, with the other 40% held by Chevron Corp.
Discovered in 2017, operations at Whale are expected to have a greenhouse gas emissions intensity around 30% lower than Vito thanks to the use of more efficient turbines and compression systems, according to Shell. After selling its onshore Permian Basin business to ConocoPhillips during the Covid-19 pandemic, Shell’s only US production is in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Whale demonstrates our focus on driving more value with less emissions from our upstream business as we deliver the energy people need today,” Zoe Yujnovich, Shell’s integrated gas and upstream director, said in the statement.
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