bp has begun oil and gas production from its Thunder Horse South expansion Phase 2 project, advancing the operator’s plan to grow its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production to around 400,000 boe/d (net) by the mid-2020s.
The expansion project—in Mississippi Canyon block 822, southeast of the Thunder Horse platform in 6,350 ft of water—is expected to increase output at Thunder Horse field, with peak annual average gross production of 25,000 boe/d from the initial two well tie-back, the operator said in a Sept. 28 release.
Eventually a total of eight wells are expected to be drilled as part of the project's overall development.
Thunder Horse, bp's largest production and drilling platform in the Gulf, lies 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, La. It is designed to process up to 250,000 boe and 200 million cu ft of natural gas per day. bp holds a 75% working interest. ExxonMobil holds the remaining 25%.
The project consists of two subsea drill centers operated by 10-in. dual flow lines with the opportunity for simultaneous Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) operations.
Thunder Horse South expansion Phase 2 completes the program of five major project start-ups planned for 2021. Together with the early start-up of the Matapal project in Trinidad, six major projects have come on stream for bp this year.
In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, bp operates four production platforms—Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog, and Na Kika—with a fifth platform, Argos, expected to come online in 2022.
