Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- Drilling is under way on the Shell-operated Perdido development in the Alaminos Canyon area in the Gulf of Mexico.

The semisubmserible drilling rigNoble Clyde Boudreaux is on site pre-drilling 20 wells. Shell will complete the wells once the Perdido spar is installed.

Noble Clyde Beadreaux was refurbished and upgraded to withstand hurricanes. Its mooring system was reconfigured with 16 mooring lines for stability and for operations in 10,000 ft (3,048 m) water depth. The semi is expected to remain on location until around 2010.

The Perdido development includes Great White, Silvertip, and Tobago fields, all jointly owned by Shell (35%), Chevron (37.5%), and BP (27.5%).

10/12/2007