Shenzi North is a two-well subsea tieback that takes advantage of the existing Shenzi infrastructure to increase production capacity of the asset.

The project, on which a final investment decision (FID) was taken in July 2021, achieved production ahead of targeted first oil in 2024.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the start-up of Shenzi North 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.

“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.

Woodside holds a 72% interest in the Shenzi conventional oil and gas field as operator and Repsol holds the remaining 28% interest. The field is located approximately 195 km off the coast of Louisiana in the Green Canyon protraction area. Shenzi was discovered in 2002 and first production of oil and natural gas occurred in 2009.

The Shenzi platform produces both oil and gas with a production capacity of 100,000 bbl/d and 50 MMscf/d. Crude oil and natural gas produced from the field is transported to connecting pipelines for onward sale to Gulf Coast customers.