Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Shell plc, has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) on a 'waterflood' project at its Vito asset in the US Gulf of Mexico. Water will be injected into the reservoir formation to displace additional oil.
The process is due to begin in 2027 and is expected to significantly enhance volume capacity at the Vito field.
"Over time, we've seen the benefits of waterflood as we look to fill our hubs in the Gulf of Mexico," said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. "This investment will deliver additional high-margin, lower-carbon barrels from our advantaged Upstream business while maximizing our potential from Vito."
Waterflood is a method of secondary recovery where the injected water physically sweeps the displaced oil to adjacent production wells, while re-pressurizing the reservoir. The three water injection wells were all drilled as pre-producers.
Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where our production has among the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity in the world for producing oil.