Shell has begun production at Rydberg, a subsea tieback to its Appomattox production hub in the Mississippi Canyon area of the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The pair of subsea wells are expected to flow 16,000 BOE/D at peak.
Rydberg is a Norphlet-aged discovery located on Block 525 in about 2280 m of water. Shell was the first operator to bring an asset online in the Norphlet Corridor with Appomattox in 2019.
“Rydberg will further boost production in the Norphlet Corridor at Appomattox, which is consistently one of our highest-producing assets,” said Rich Howe, Shell deep water executive vice president. “As we meet the energy demands of today and the future, we will continue to mature the best opportunities for growth in the Gulf of Mexico.”
The Rydberg development consists of two wells producing through a single, insulated 12-mile flowline with a dynamic umbilical. Resource volumes of Rydberg are currently estimated to be 38 million BOE.
Shell drilled the Rydberg discovery well in 2014 to a total depth of 8038 m using drillship Noble Globetrotter I. The well encountered about 122 m of net hydrocarbon pay.
Shell took the final investment decision on Rydberg in September 2022.
The Rydberg leases are operated by Shell holding an 80% working interest, while CNOOC holds the remaining 20% stake.
Last year, Shell took FID on the Dover development, another Norphlet find destined to be tied back to the Appomattox host. The Mississippi Canyon Block 612 discovery will be produced via a pair of production wells flowing through a 17.5-mile flowline and riser system.
Dover is expected to start production in late 2024 or early 2025 and produce up to 21,000 BOE/D at peak rates.
