NorthAmOil: Shell, Enbridge to provide oil transportation capacity to BP’s Kaskida

Shell announced on October 3 that it had made a final investment decision (FID) on the Rome offshore pipeline project in the US Gulf of Mexico. This came as the company agreed to transport oil from BP’s recently sanctioned Kaskida project. At the same time, Enbridge also agreed to develop new offshore pipeline capacity to serve Kaskida.

The pipeline is designed to enhance oil transportation capacity between Shell’s Green Canyon Block 19 (GC-19) pipeline hub platform and the Fourchon Junction facility on the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

The GC-19 platform is located roughly 75 miles (121 km) south of the Louisiana coast at water depths of about 750 feet (229 metres). The platform provides existing pipeline access to the Amberjack, Boxer, Eugene Island and CHOPS Pipeline systems in the Gulf.

The Rome pipeline will run adjacent to existing corridor pipelines and will extend over roughly 100 miles (161 km). Pending receipt of the relevant permits and regulatory agency approvals, the pipeline is anticipated to enter service in 2028.

“This investment will reinforce Shell’s strategic position in the US Gulf of Mexico through enhanced oil transport capacity, flexibility and efficiency,” stated Shell’s executive vice president of trading and supply, Andrew Smith.

In conjunction with this announcement, Shell said that it had entered into an agreement with BP for the Rome pipeline to export 100% of the oil production from the Kaskida project, in the Keathley Canyon area of the deepwater Gulf, on which an FID was taken in July.
Separately, Enbridge announced on the same day that it had agreed to build oil and gas pipelines that will connect Kaskida to Shell’s GC-19 platform. The projects will be named the Canyon Oil Pipeline System and the Canyon Gathering System and will have a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 125mn cubic feet (3.5mn cubic metres) per day of gas respectively.

Kaskida will have the capacity to produce 80,000 bpd of oil from six wells in its first phase. Production is from the project, which will target a challenging part of the Lower Tertiary, or Paleogene, play characterised by high pressures, is expected to start in 2029.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping North America’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s North American Oil and Gas Monitor.