Shell Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based oil giant Shell Oil, announced Wednesday that it is selling its interest in two major offshore Gulf platforms to Talos Energy and Ridgewood Energy for $1.7 billion.
The sales involved Shell’s 50 percent interest in the Na Kika platform and its associated fields in the Gulf, as well as the company’s 100 percent ownership in the Coulomb subsea tieback that feeds to the Na Kika platform.
Na Kika will continue to be operated by BP which owns the remaining half-interest in the platform, which lies roughly 140 miles south of New Orleans.
Travis Torrence is head of legal and a vice president of Shell USA. Shell did not identify outside advisors.
On July 6, Clifford Chance said it advised Talos Energy and Ridgewood Energy on the deal led by Houston partners David Sweeney and Joclynn Marsh.
Other Houston lawyers who provided counsel include Ty’Meka M. Reeves-Sobers, Om Pandya, Todd Lowther, Kade Moural, Edward Vaunder, Thomas Shattuck, Sophia Navedo-Quinones, Trumond Best with Joseph Ostoyich, Marcia Hook and Kami McFarland in Washington, D.C.
Shell said proved reserves 4.3 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2025 for Na Kika and 7.2 boe for Coulomb.
As operators of about 12,000 Shell-branded gas stations across the U.S., the company said its trading subsidiary has negotiated rights to continued offtake with the new buyers. Its entitlement from the combined assets during 2025 was 37,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, but the company noted that Na Kika and Coulomb “will not be meaningful contributors to production by 2030.”
Na Kika began production in 2003, while the Columb tieback began production in 2005.