U.S. Gulf of Mexico pipeline operator Williams has struck a deal with Beacon Offshore to provide offshore gas gathering and transportation services and onshore gas processing services to the Shenandoah offshore development.
Williams will provide support for the project through its Discovery infrastructure in the central Gulf of Mexico. Shenandoah is located 160 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico.
Facilities to be installed include a five-mile offshore lateral pipeline build from the Shenandoah platform to Discovery’s existing Keathley Canyon Connector pipeline, and additional onshore processing facilities to handle the expected rich Shenandoah production.
The new, rich natural gas will be transported to Discovery’s processing plant in Larose, Louisiana, and the natural gas liquids will be fractionated and marketed at Discovery’s Paradis plant in Louisiana.
Shenandoah is expected to come online as early as late 2024.
"Our interconnected offshore and onshore infrastructure allows us to maximize value for our customers by providing a safe, seamless and direct path to market for deepwater producers in the Gulf,” said Micheal Dunn, Chief Operating Officer for Williams. “Our investment in Shenandoah is a strategic expansion of our Gulf of Mexico infrastructure which further strengthens our portfolio of services. We are pleased to provide the entire spectrum of midstream capabilities to Beacon that will capture the full value of these important deepwater resources.”
Williams owns and operates 3,500 miles of natural gas and oil gathering and transmission pipeline, along with 1.8 BCF/d of cryogenic processing capacity and 60,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity serving the Gulf of Mexico. The also has ownership in two floating production platforms, several fixed leg utility platforms, and other related facilities.
In recent Shenandoah-related news, offshore drilling company Transocean said earlier this month it had agreed with Beacon to start drilling operations at the start project during the third quarter of 2022.
Transocean expects Beacon to start drilling on its Shenandoah project using the Deepwater Atlas drillship following a final investment decision from Beacon and its partners. That decision is expected to be made on or before July 31, 2021, Transocean said.