BP starts production from Thunder Horse Northwest expansion project

Oct. 18, 2018
BP PLC has started production from the Thunder Horse Northwest expansion project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, boosting production at the Thunder Horse facility by an estimated 30,000 boe/d at its peak and taking gross output from the oil field to more than 200,000 boe/d.

BP PLC has started production from the Thunder Horse Northwest expansion project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, boosting production at the Thunder Horse facility by an estimated 30,000 boe/d at its peak and taking gross output from the oil field to more than 200,000 boe/d.

Originally planned for start-up in early 2019, the expansion came online 4 months ahead of schedule and 15% under budget

The project adds a subsea manifold and two wells tied into existing flowlines 2 miles north of the Thunder Horse platform and is the fourth upstream major project to begin production for BP globally so far this year.

In 2017, an expansion of Thunder Horse’s south field—a 4-well tie-back to the floating hub—boosted gross production at the field by more than 50,000 boe/d (OGJ Online, Jan. 23, 2018). The year before, BP started up a major water injection project at Thunder Horse to further enhance oil production from the field.

The Thunder Horse platform is in more than 6,000 ft of water and began production in June 2008 (OGJ Online, Dec. 22, 2008). It has the capacity to handle 250,000 bbl gross of oil and 200 MMcfd gross of natural gas. The facility continued to operate during construction and installation of the subsea production and pipeline system.

Thunder Horse is operated by BP with 75% working interest. Partner ExxonMobil Corp. holds the remaining interest.