Shenzi North Oil and Gas Field, US

The Shenzi North field is developed as a tie-back to the Shenzi tension leg platform. Credit: Woodside Energy.

The Shenzi North field was discovered in 2017. Credit: Woodside Energy.

First production from the Shenzi North field was achieved in September 2023 (Representative image). Credit: Goodvibes Photo/Shutterstock.com.

The Shenzi North oil and gas project is an expansion of the existing Shenzi field located offshore the Gulf of Mexico, US.

The field is owned by Woodside Energy (72%, operator) and Repsol (28%). The final investment decision on the project was taken in July 2021.

First production from the field was achieved in September 2023 ahead of the planned target of 2024. The field has a production capacity of 30 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) per day. It was estimated to involve an investment of $544m.

Shenzi North field location and discovery details

The Shenzi North field lies within Green Canyon blocks 608 and 609 offshore the Gulf of Mexico.

The field was discovered in 2017 by BHP Petroleum and became a part of Woodside’s portfolio following the merger with BHP’s petroleum business in June 2022.

Shenzi North forms the first development phase of the Greater Wildling mini basin. The basin also includes the Wildling field, which was discovered in 2017.

Shenzi North oil and gas field development details

Shenzi North field is developed as a two-well subsea tieback to the existing Shenzi tension leg platform (TLP) installed at the Shenzi oil and gas field.

The drilling of the second development well, SN102, commenced in the third quarter of 2022 and was completed in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Deepwater Invictus drillship was used to drill the second well. Completion activities on the first development well, SN101, commenced in the first quarter of 2023 and concluded by mid-2023.

The field’s subsea production system comprises subsea manifolds, high-integrity pressure protection systems (HIPPS) and subsea connections and jumper systems. The HIPPS enable the use of existing flowlines, risers and topside facilities of the Shenzi field.

Shenzi North is also installed with 15,000psi HorizontalBore^™ subsea trees, which can accommodate multiple completion configurations and offer flexible running and pulling of the upper completion without interfering with the tree-to-wellhead connection. The subsea trees were installed in April 2023.

The produced crude oil and natural gas are transferred to connecting pipelines, which transport them onshore to customers.

Shenzi TLP details

The Shenzi stand-alone TLP was installed in July 2018 at a water depth of 1,310m (4,300ft). It has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day and 50 million metric standard cubic feet of gas per day, respectively.

The Shenzi TLP features 20 subsea production and water injection wells tied back from the Shenzi field. It was designed by MODEC International, a floating production systems provider.

The platform has a payload capacity of 15,500 tonnes (t) and displacement of 43,500t, making it the largest TLP of the minimum offshore surface equipment structure design.

Contractors involved

Trendsetter Engineering, a subsea solutions provider, supplied subsea infrastructure for the field. It partnered with Proserv, a production technology and services company, which delivered an HIPPS control system.

Dril-Quip, an oilfield solutions provider, in collaboration with Proserv, supplied and installed the two HorizontalBore^™ subsea trees.

Shenzi oil and gas field details

The Shenzi oil and gas field is located within Green Canyon blocks 653, 609, 610 and 654, approximately 195km off the coast of Louisiana, US, in the Green Canyon protraction area of the Gulf of Mexico.

The field was discovered in 2002 and started production in 2009. It features seven, predrilled subsea wells tied back to the Shenzi TLP.