Australia's Woodside Energy has started production from its Shenzi North field in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.
The Perth-based major said on 13 September that the startup of Shenzi North occurred ahead of the targeted first oil in 2024.
In July 2021, Woodside took a final investment decision (FID) on the project, with development featuring a two-well subsea tieback to the existing Shenzi tension-leg platform (TLP) to increase the production capacity of the asset, the company said in a statement.
Woodside Chief Executive Meg O'Neill said the startup further demonstrated the value of Woodside's US Gulf of Mexico assets, acquired as part of the merger with BHP's petroleum business in 2022.
"First production from Shenzi North shows how we are leveraging existing infrastructure to increase production and provide attractive returns from our Gulf of Mexico business," said O'Neill.
"Taking the project from FID to first oil in 26 months is a great achievement. I commend the project team on safely bringing this resource into production well ahead of schedule," she said.
The Shenzi North field, discovered in 2017, is located about 195 km off the coast of Louisiana in about 1300 m of water on Green Canyon Blocks 608 and 609.
The Shenzi field was discovered in 2002, with the first oil and natural gas production occurring in 2009. The Shenzi TLP is installed in about 1300 m of water and produces oil and gas with a production capacity of 100,000 B/D and 50 MMscf/D.
Woodside holds a 72% interest in the Shenzi and Shenzi North fields as the operator, and Spain's Repsol holds a 28% interest in each field.
