Shell’s Vito Platform Aims for Sustainability

/

Shell is getting ready to launch Vito, a smaller, less energy intensive, more sustainable oil and gas platform. The project started after the 2014-2016 oil bust as a way to streamline operations.

Vito’s Curriculum Vitae (CV):

  • Location: Gulf of Mexico

  • Depth: 4,000 feet

  • Interests: Shell (63% operator) and Equinor (37%)

  • Production: An estimated 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day at peak 

After the original concept for the simplified platform, cost estimates were cut by more than 70% by simplifying the design even further and working closely with vendors. 

While oil prices are high right now, Shell knows they won’t always be. Vito can produce oil at an estimated breakeven of less than $35 per barrel. 

The platform uses that natural phenomenon we all know and love, gravity, to separate the oil from the gas and send them to shore through separate pipelines. Once it’s out of the pressurized deepwater, gas rises and oil sinks. The metaphor of oil and water might be too on the nose, but it works. 

The tradeoff? The paired-down platform can’t catch every molecule of hydrocarbon. The platform will focus on the low-energy barrels. 

Vito is expected to launch in the gulf this June.