Cosco’s heavy lifter loads Shell’s Appomattox

COSCO’s Xin Guang Hua heavy lift and transportation vessel has earlier this week loaded Shell’s Appomattox platform hull at Geoje, South Korea.

The giant vessel will take the unit to the U.S., where the platform will eventually be installed at Shell’s Appomattox field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The Appomattox project will consist of a semi-submersible, four-column production host platform, a subsea system featuring six drill centers, 15 producing wells, and five water injection wells.

The Appomattox development will initially produce from the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields, with average peak production estimated to reach approximately 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.

Shell will own the platform and the Appomattox and Vicksburg fields with 79 percent interest, with Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. (21%), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, as a partner.