Shell produces oil from Gulf of Mexico

Shell Oil Company said Thursday it has started producing oil from a well 9,627 feet (2934 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, the deepest underwater well in the world. The well is located in the Tobago Field 200 miles (322 kms) southwest of Houston in the ultra-deep water of the Gulf of Mexico, the company said in a written announcement. Shell, the operator, has a 32.5 percent ownership stake in the Tobago Field, while Chevron has a 57.5 percent share and Nexen 10 percent. Tobago breaks the world water depth record for subsea oil production, previous held by Shell's Silvertip field, at 9,356 feet (2852 meters) of water, Shell said. Tobago is one of three fields producing through the Perdido drilling and production platform. "Through our highly skilled workforce and cadre of global geoscientists, Shell has applied its advanced seismic and drilling technologies at Perdido to produce additional sources of oil and gas," said Marvin Odum, Upstream Americas Director for Shell. Moored in about 8,000 feet (2438 meters) of water, the Perdido platform is jointly owned by Shell, BP and Chevron and is the deepest drilling and production facility in the world with a capacity to handle 100,000 barrels of oil per day and 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, according to Shell.