BP lets Thunder Horse expansion contract

May 13, 2015
BP Exploration & Production Inc. has let a contract to Technip covering pipeline systems for a southern expansion of ultradeepwater Thunder Horse oil and gas field on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 778 and 822 in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Exploration & Production Inc. has let a contract to Technip covering pipeline systems for a southern expansion of ultradeepwater Thunder Horse oil and gas field on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 778 and 822 in the Gulf of Mexico.

The project includes a new drill center 2 miles from the Thunder Horse semisubmersible production, drilling, and quarters platform in 6,050 ft of water, 150 miles southeast of New Orleans. Four wells will tie in to the drill center. BP expects production from the project to start in 2017 and peak at 42,000 boe/d.

Under a lump-sum contract, Technip will handle design, engineering, fabrication, installation, precommissioning, and other services for two rigid production flowlines with four pipeline end terminations.

Production from the Thunder Horse platform, which has capacity to handle 250,000 b/d of oil and 200 MMscfd of natural gas, began in June 2008. The field produces from Upper Miocene turbidite sandstones.

According to US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement lease data, production from Thunder Horse and Thunder Horse North fields averaged 84,585 b/d of oil and 108.7 MMcfd of gas in the first 2 months of 2015.

BP next year will start up a water injection project expected to develop 65 million boe in the Pink reservoir and establish pressure support.

BP operates Thunder Horse with a 75% interest. ExxonMobil holds 25%.