Australian independent Woodside Energy has announced first production from its deepwater Shenzi North oil field in the US Gulf of Mexico, ahead of its original 2024 guidance.
A two-well subsea tieback partly using existing Woodside-operated Shenzi infrastructure, Shenzi North was acquired as part of the merger between Woodside and the petroleum arm of fellow Australian resources firm BHP in 2022 and will boost Shenzi production by 14,000 b/d.
The Shenzi platform produces both oil and gas, previously producing 100,000 b/d of oil and 515mn m³/yr of gas, Woodside said. The opening of Shenzi North will take oil output to 114,000 b/d but will not alter Woodside's previous production guidance for 2023 of 180mn-190mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/yr.
"First production from Shenzi North shows how we are leveraging existing infrastructure to increase production and provide attractive returns from our Gulf of Mexico business," Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said on 13 September. "Taking the project from final investment decision to first oil in 26 months is a great achievement."
Woodside holds a 72pc interest in the Shenzi conventional oil and gas field as operator, with Spanish integrated oil firm Repsol controlling 28pc. The field, 195km offshore the US state of Louisiana, was discovered in 2002, with Shenzi's first production of oil and natural gas in 2009.
Woodside's share of production from its Gulf of Mexico assets of Shenzi, the Atlantis floating production unit (FPU), Mad Dog a-Spar and Argos FPU was 82,000 boe/d in January-June 2023, the company said on 22 August.
