LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell hasgiven the green light for the development of the Appomattoxdeepwater oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico, set to be theenergy giant's largest floating platform in the region.
The Appomattox project, some 80 miles (130 km) off the coastof Louisiana, is expected to reach peak production of around175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, Shell said in astatement on Wednesday.
Shell holds a 79 percent stake in the project while NexenPetroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of China's CNOOC, holds theremaining 21 percent.
Once online, the field could boost Shell's production in theregion by more than 60 percent from 2014 levels.
"We have again delivered a globally competitive investmentscope for another significant deepwater project," said MarvinOdum, Shell Upstream Americas director.
"Appomattox opens up more production growth for us in theGulf of Mexico, where our production last year averaged about225,000 boe per day, and this development will be profitable fordecades to come. With its competitive cost and design,Appomattox is next in our series of deepwater successes."
Shell said it had reduced the project's cost by 20 percentthrough design improvement and cost reductions, bringing itsbreakeven price to around $55 per barrel of oil equivalent. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Dale Hudson)
