LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest oil companyRoyal Dutch Shell said a project to get oil pumpingfrom its Cardamom field in the Gulf of Mexico would involveusing existing infrastructure to help keep costs down.
Shell said on Wednesday that it would shut down productionat its Auger platform to enable its Cardamom wells to beconnected to Auger's existing infrastructure.
"Cardamom is a great example of using existinginfrastructure to increase oil and gas production in a lesscapital intensive way," Shell executive president John Hollowellsaid.
Shell, like its peers, is struggling to replace reserves andboost production, and faces a squeeze on earnings as the hugecost of building oil infrastructure rises.
Auger will restart output later this year, the company said,adding that Cardamom will produce at around 50,000 barrels ofoil equivalent per day once it starts pumping oil next year.