A senior Shell executive has highlighted how backing off an enhanced oil recovery scheme for the Vito project in the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico and keeping things simple was a key driver in bringing down costs and getting the project closer to sanction at a time of weak oil prices.
The Anglo-Dutch supermajor had originally contemplated a more complex scheme for the development in Mississippi Canyon, but following the global oil price crash it opted for a plan that relied on base depletion with gas lift, Shell vice president Edwin Verdonk said.
