Shell Makes Final Investment Decision for the Vito Deepwater Development in Gulf of Mexico

Vito will be Shell’s 11th deep-water host in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil major Shell has announced a final investment decision for the 100,000 barrel per day Vito development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. 

Shell says the decision comes after a redesign of the project launched in 2015 reduced cost estimates by more than 70% compared to the original concept. Vito now has a break-even of less than $35 per barrel.

“Vito’s cost savings are due to the simplified design, in addition to working collaboratively with vendors in a variety of areas including well design and completions, subsea, contracting, and topsides design,” Shell said in a statement.

The final investment decision sets in motion the construction and fabrication of a new host design and subsea infrastructure.

The Vito development will be Shell’s 11th deep-water host in the Gulf of Mexico. It is currently scheduled to begin producing oil in 2021 and has estimated recoverable resources of 300 million boe.

The field is located in more than 4,000 feet of water over four blocks in the Mississippi Canyon area of the GoM approximately 150-miles southeast of New Orleans. It will consist of eight subsea wells with deep (18,000 feet) in-well gas lift.

Vito is owned by Shell Offshore Inc. (63.11% operator) and Statoil USA E&P Inc. (36.89%).

Vito is expected to reach peak production of approximately 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, contributing to Shell’s global production which the company says is progressing to more than 900,000 boe per day.

Shell has deep-water projects and opportunities in the U.S., Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Mexico.

More on Shell’s Vito development is below: