Shell postponed final investment decisions (FID) on two planned projects in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and North Sea, coming after a record decline in crude oil futures driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delayed FID in the GoM is for development of the Whale discovery, which is operated by Shell (60%) and co-owned by Chevron (40%). It was discovered in the Alaminos Canyon Block 772 in 2018, adjacent to the operator’s Silvertip field and approximately 10 miles from its Perdido platform.
Although FID for the Whale development is delayed, the company said work is continuing as planned there.
It also postponed FID to 2021 for development of its Jackdaw natural gas field in Britain’s North Sea, located 155 miles east of Aberdeen. Media outlets said the Jackdaw development, which was to be developed via 20-mile subsea pipeline to the existing Shearwater platform in 2014, was valued around $1 billion.
The company said in March it was dropping out of the Lake Charles LNG project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with Energy Transfer.