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Shell Oil Company has set a world water depth record in drilling and completing a subsea well 9,356 feet (1.77 miles) below the water’s surface in the Silvertip Field at the Perdido Development project, approximately 200 miles from Houston in the Gulf of Mexico.

Russ Ford, Shell’s technology vice president for the Americas said, “Pressing into ever deeper waters shows that the ultra deep is a new frontier for the critical resources to meet the world’s future energy needs. This achievement represents a leap forward in applying sophisticated technologies in rugged sea floor terrain with a harsh environment of very high pressures accessible only by remotely operated vehicles. This means not just reaching a new milestone, but forging new ground in technological innovation.”

As an oil well, the Perdido record is 35 percent deeper than the previous oil well record of 6,950 feet, also set by Shell at the Gulf of Mexico’s Fourier field. At Perdido, Shell intends to drill an even deeper well at the Tobago field at 9,627 feet, which will surpass the present world record at Silvertip. Shell operates the Perdido Development on behalf of partners Chevron and BP.

The Perdido Development will drill 35 wells (22 direct vertical access and 13 remote) in the Great White, Tobago and Silvertip fields located in Alaminos Canyon. Moored in about 8,000 feet of water, the drilling and production facility will be the deepest in the world. Nine polyester mooring lines averaging more than two miles in length now hold the spar in place. The floating structure will weigh 50,000-tons and be nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower when fully operational.

First production from Perdido is expected around the turn of the decade, with the facility capable of handling 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. To get the oil and gas to market requires installing 77 miles of oil export pipelines and 107 miles of gas export pipelines.

This enormous project began with the 1996 lease sale, when the technology to develop hydrocarbons at Perdido’s water depth did not yet exist. By the time the final investment decision for commercial development was made in October 2006, Shell had pioneered several technological firsts required to develop and produce oil and gas in ultra deepwater. Development drilling began in July 2007, five years after the discovery of hydrocarbons. The spar was installed in August 2008, with its topsides scheduled for installation in 2009.

The Perdido Development includes a common processing hub that incorporates drilling capability and functionality to gather, process and export production within a 30-mile radius of the facility. This concept will provide regional synergies, reduced cost and lower risk as well as reducing the number and size of the facilities and operations in this challenging frontier area, resulting in a lower environmental impact than would otherwise be achieved.

- National Oil Companies strengthen their hold in annual survey
- Saudi Aramco remains No. 1, and China’s CNPC surpasses BP and Shell
- Russia’s Rosneft makes biggest jump, from 24th to 16th
- Majority state-owned national oil companies now make up 27 of 50

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly this week published its annual ranking of the world’s 50 largest oil companies, a benchmark survey now in its 20th year that is recognized industry-wide as the leading source of comparative performance assessments on all the world’s oil companies. The main trend in the latest survey is the greater predominance of national oil companies, and, particularly, the substantial gains by Chinese and Russian companies.
The PIW Top 50 rankings are based on six operational criteria that allow the comparison of private sector and state-owned oil companies. This year’s rankings are based on operational data for 2007, the most recent period available for such a wide group of firms.

In contrast to national oil companies, the major oil companies and other private sector firms generally lost ground, especially in the top tiers. However, unlike other super majors, Exxon Mobil held on to its number three position. A comparison with results from 10 years ago shows that the top major oil companies, as a group, now account for a smaller global share of the six ranking criteria than they did prior to the mega-mergers that created them.

Other key findings from the PIW Top 50:
– Saudi Aramco maintains its hold on the top spot, the result of significant ongoing investment in both upstream and downstream oil and gas operations.
- Three new firms moved into the PIW Top 50 – Uzbekneftegas, China’s CNOOC and Kazmunaigas of Kazakhstan – all majority state-owned.

The Top 50 is the precursor to the more comprehensive Energy Intelligence Top 100: Ranking The World’s Oil Companies, to be published in December 2008.

Company / Country (State Ownership %)

1. Saudi Aramco – Saudi Arabia (100)
2. NIOC – Iran (100)
3. Exxon Mobil – US
4. PDV – Venezuela (100)
5. CNPC – China (100)
6. BP – UK
7. Shell – UK/Netherlands
8. ConocoPhillips – US
9. Chevron – US
10. Total – France
11. Pemex – Mexico (100)
12. Sonatrach – Algeria (100)
13. Gazprom – Russia (50.0023)
14. KPC – Kuwait (100)
15. Petrobras – Brazil (32.2)
16. Rosneft – Russia (75.16)
17. Petronas – Malaysia (100)
18. Adnoc – UAE (100)
18. Lukoil – Russia
20. NNPC – Nigeria (100)
21. Eni – Italy (30)
22. QP – Qatar (100)
23. Libya NOC – Libya (100)
24. INOC† Iraq – (100)
25. Sinopec – China (71.84)
26. StatoilHydro – Norway (62.5)
27. EGPC – Egypt (100)
28. Repsol YPF – Spain
29. Surgutneftegas – Russia
30. Pertamina – Indonesia (100)
31. ONGC – India (74.14)
32. Marathon – US
32. PDO – Oman (60)
34. EnCana – Canada
34. Uzbekneftegas – Uzbekistan (100)
36. Socar – Azerbaijan (100)
37. SPC – Syria (100)
38. Ecopetrol – Colombia (89.9)
39. Apache – US
39. CNR – Canada
41. Anadarko – US
42. Devon Energy – US
43. TNK-BP‡ – Russia
44. OMV – Austria (31.5)
45. Hess – US
46. Occidental – US
47. BG – UK
48. CNOOC – China – 66.41
49. Inpex – Japan (29.35)
50. Kazmunaigas – Kazakhstan (100)

PIW’s ranking of the world’s 50 largest oil companies is based on operational data from over 130 firms. The focus on operations allows meaningful comparisons of all types of companies — including state-owned firms — and thus differs from more financially oriented corporate rankings. PIW’s unique system uses as criteria oil reserves and production, natural gas reserves and output, refinery capacity, and product sales volumes.