Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, has announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) for Sparta, a deep-water development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that represents the competitive approach to simplifying and replicating projects.
Owned by Shell Offshore Inc. (51% operator) and Equinor Gulf of Mexico LLC (49%), Sparta is expected to reach peak production of approximately 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and currently has an estimated, discovered recoverable resource volume of 244 million boe. Sparta will be Shell’s 15th deep-water host in the Gulf of Mexico and is currently scheduled to begin production in 2028.
Sparta showcases Shell’s cost-efficient development approach through standardized, simplified host designs, first utilized at the Vito development and later replicated at the Whale development. An enhanced replication of Vito and Whale, Sparta replicates about 95% of Whale’s hull and 85% of Whale’s topsides.
Building on more than 40 years of deep-water expertise, Sparta also marks Shell’s first development in the Gulf of Mexico to produce from reservoirs with pressures up to 20,000 pounds per square inch.
The Sparta development will be the first of Shell’s replicable projects to feature all-electric topside compression equipment, significantly reducing greenhouse gas intensity and emissions from its own operations.
