Offshore staff
THE HAGUE – Shell has temporarily shut down production at the Auger tension leg platform (TLP) in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico while the company completes the tie-in of the Cardamom subsea development.
The shut-in will take some 55,000 boe/d out of production while Shell retrofits the TLP and connects theCardamom wells. The company said production at Auger would likely resume in 4Q 2013 and that Cardamom would come on stream in 2014 at a peak rate of 50,000 boe/d.
A single Cardamom exploration well has been producing to the Auger platform since December, 2010. The complete subsea development includes five expandable manifolds, a dual 8-in. flowline and eight well umbilicals. Modifications to the TLP will include additional subsea receiving equipment, the upgrade of an existing process train, and weight mitigation, which are expected to increase the platform’s liquid handling, cooling, and production capacity, Shell said.
The Cardamom discovery is in water depths greater than 800 m (2,720 ft) in Garden Banks block 427. The Auger TLP, in 872-m (2,860-ft) depths in Garden Banks block 426, was installed in February, 1994.
7/15/2013
