Main content | back to top
About E&P in the United States
Shell Exploration & Production Company is the largest of the Shell E&P operating units, accounting for 15 percent of Shell worldwide oil and gas production.
Operations Overview
Gulf of Mexico
Shell has been operating in the Gulf of Mexico for five decades. With an average of 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Shell Net production) our oil and gas production in the Gulf accounts for more than 80 percent of our overall U.S. production.
One of our current offshore projects in the Gulf– Perdido – will use the spar design in the ultra-deep water of the Alaminos Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico, 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Freeport, Texas.
Operating in almost 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) of water, the spar will be the deepest spar production facility in the world. Learn more about the Perdido Development.
Texas
Shell drilled its first South Texas wells in 1953. Today, Shell produces approximately 210 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from more than 400 wells across three counties – Zapata, Hidalgo and Starr. In recent years, Shell has invested significantly into its South Texas asset by drilling new wells, reworking old wells, and acquiring additional natural gas fields from another operator. Shell also operates more than 600 miles of pipeline across the Rio Grande Valley.
Wyoming
Shell is active in the Rocky Mountain region, namely western Wyoming’s Pinedale Anticline. Located in Sublette County’s Green River Valley, the Anticline is currently estimated to be the third largest gas field in the U.S. Shell’s leasehold is predominately federal minerals, underlying federal (Bureau of Land Management) surface.
With an active drilling, development and work-over program, the Shell net daily production has grown to more than 240 million cubic feet of natural gas per day with continued growth forecast. The company will continue with an active drilling program over the foreseeable future.
Alabama
The Yellowhammer Plant, owned jointly by Shell with 64 percent and Marubeni Oil and Gas with 36 percent, is located approximately 20 miles south of Mobile, Alabama. Yellowhammer is designed to process about 200 million cubic feet of sour gas per day, providing the source for gas to fuel homes and industry; natural gas liquids and sulfur.
Colorado
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that there are upwards of one trillion barrels of recoverable oil trapped in oil shale in the U.S. - equivalent to the world’s proven oil reserves. Many attempts to unlock this resource in a way that is economically viable, environmentally acceptable and socially responsible have been unfruitful.
The oil produced was a heavy tar, requiring intensive refining and processing. In the Piceance Basin of northwest Colorado, Shell is field-testing a new technology, the In Situ Conversion Process, which is turning the kerogen trapped inside to light hydrocarbon liquids and gas with virtually no residue.
New technologies are advancing to the point that there is optimism that commercial oil shale production will become a reality. Ongoing field tests in Colorado are reducing the uncertainties associated with recovery efficiency, product composition, and energy balance. Shell hopes to be able to declare the process commercial early in the next decade.
Maintaining Upstream Strength
The Exploration and Production portfolio today generates significant cash flow from core producing areas. EP will invest in developing our existing resource base to sustain profitable core areas, in growing integrated gas positions and new material oil projects and in unlocking additional unconventional oil resources. New investment and business development will target areas with growth potential and exposure to price upside.
Research and Technology
The Shell technology division of Shell International Exploration and Production manages research, development and the deployment of technology for the Shell global exploration and production businesses. Two companies, one based in The Netherlands and the other in the United States, work together to provide a wide range of products and services to Shell companies in the sector.
For more than 80 years, the Shell EP business has had central laboratories in each location to ensure that knowledge is gathered and shared among all of the Shell operating companies.
In 1914, Shell opened its Delft Laboratories, later to become the Research Centre at Rijswijk, near The Hague in The Netherlands. In 1922, a small office was opened in Houston, Texas, to establish an EP presence in Texas. Five years later, a small workshop was opened in Dallas.
By 1936, a Geophysical Laboratory and Workshop had been built in Bellaire in the Houston area, which later became the focal point for the Shell EP research in the USA. Today, Bellaire is one of the main technology centers for Shell globally, with other EP technology centers in Houston and New Orleans.
Some 2,000 people work in the Shell U.S. EP technology division and its commercial arm, Shell Technology Ventures. In-house R&D is supported by partnerships with external companies to provide leading edge technology for supply to Shell companies as well as the open market.