Oil and gas major Shell said on Thursday it had started production at the offshore floating facility Whale located in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Whale project largely replicates Shell’s Vito project, which started production in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2023. The new project also uses energy-efficient gas turbines and compression systems with 30% lower greenhouse gas intensity over its lifecycle than Vito, Shell said.

The new Whale development is up and running following President Joe Biden’s drilling ban along much of the U.S. coastline.

Shell Plc began production at its ‘Whale’ floating facility in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected to reach daily peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent.

Whale's estimated peak output is 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), with 480 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) in recoverable resources.