Offshore staff
(US, GoM)- Shell Exploration & Production Company has resumed partial production from itsMars TLP. Mars is the largest producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico and has been shut-in due to damage from Hurricane Katrina since late August of last year.
This validates Shell's announcement in late April that progress on the repair and recovery of the TLP and export pipelines was ahead of schedule and production was expected to resume in the second half of May.
Shell also said that production will continue to ramp up over the next several weeks andMars production will be restored to pre-Katrina rates by the end of June.
Marvin Odum, executive VP and head of Shell Exploration & Production in North and South America, said "theMars platform recovery and deepwater pipeline repairs were among the most technologically complex operations in the world, and our people were up to the task, completing the work safely and ahead of schedule."
Odum went on to say: "Resumption of production as a result of a dedicated recovery team and on-site workforce, that often numbered over 500 people per day and representing over 1,000,000 man-hours without a recordable incident, is the crowning testament to the success of this effort. I am proud of the Shell team and all the staffs from Louisiana, the Gulf Coast Region and around the world that rallied to provide the resources to accomplish this goal safely."
Shell operates theMars platform with a 71.5 % working interest; BP has the remaining working interest.
5/22/2006
