Shell announces second major 2014 start up in deep-water Gulf of Mexico with Cardamom development first oil

08 Sep 2014--Production is now underway from the Cardamom development, the second major deep-water facility 
Shell has brought online in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year, following the start-up of Mars B in February. Oil from the 
Cardamom subsea development (100% Shell) is piped through Shell's Auger platform. When at full production of 
50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d), Auger's total production capacity will increase to 130,000 boe/d.

"Cardamom is a high-value addition to Shell's production at the Auger platform and is another example of our 
excellence in deep-water project delivery," said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. "The work to extend 
the production life of our first deep-water tension-leg platform is impressive and involved advanced exploration and 
development technology. Our additional opportunities in deep water mean that this will remain an important, high-return 
growth area for Shell."

Since its first production in 1994, the facility has received several upgrades to process additional production from new 
discoveries. Cardamom is Auger's seventh subsea development.

The Cardamom reservoir sits beneath thick layers of salt in rock more than four miles (6.4 kilometers) below the sea 
floor and went undetected by conventional seismic surveys. Shell used the latest advancements in seismic technology 
to discover Cardamom in 2010.

The Cardamom field is 225 miles (362 kilometres) south-west of New Orleans, Louisiana, in water more than 2,700 
feet (820 metres) deep.

Other deep-water Gulf of Mexico growth for Shell includes the Mars B (Shell 71.5%) development, which continues to 
ramp up production; the ultra-deep-water Stones (Shell 100%, 50,000 boe/d) project, which is under construction; front
-end engineering and design is progressing for the Appomattox (Shell 80%) project; and, in a recent exploration 
success, Shell announced a major discovery at its Rydberg (Shell 57.2%) well in the Norphlet play. Shell also 
discovered oil at its Kaikias (Shell 100%) well in the Mars basin, which will require further appraisal in 2015.

Last month, Shell also started oil production from its Bonga North West (Shell 55%, 40,000 boe/d) deep water 
development off the coast of Nigeria and recently announced a natural gas discovery at its Marjoram-1 (Shell 85%) 
deep-water well in Malaysia, where the Gumusut-Kakap (Shell 33%) deep-water platform is also on track for 
production this year.

Source: http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/media/news-and-media-releases/2014/shell-announces-cardamom-
development-first-oil.html