BP advised it has approved an expansion in the Gulf of Mexico that will add 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to its massive Thunder Horse field.
The Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 project, expected to come online in 2021, follows two other Thunder Horse expansions completed in the last two years. With more than 300,000 barrels of daily production a day in the region, BP remains the Gulf of Mexico’s largest producer.
“This latest expansion at Thunder Horse is another example of how the Gulf of Mexico is leading the way in advantaged oil growth for BP, unlocking significant value and safely growing a high-margin business,” said Starlee Sykes, BP’s regional president for the Gulf of Mexico and Canada.
Discovered in July 1999, Thunder Horse is currently one of the largest deepwater producing fields in the Gulf of Mexico. It consists of two adjacent fields (‘north’ and ‘south’) being developed together, with reservoirs in the Upper Miocene turbidite sandstones. The wells required to access the reservoir are some of the most challenging and deepest in the Gulf. The Thunder Horse development consists of a semi-submersible Production/Drilling/Quarters (PDQ) facility, with the capacity to produce 250,000 b/d of oil, and 200 mmscfd of gas. The processed oil & gas is then transported to shore via BP operated pipelines. First Oil was achieved in June 2008 and ramp up to facility capacity was successfully achieved within the first year of operation. BP operates the development (75% interest), with co-owner ExxonMobil owning the balance.
Thunder Horse is loated in the Gulf of Mexico, around 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Thunder Horse discovery well was drilled in 1999 on Mississippi Canyon block 778. It was drilled to a depth of 25,770 feet (7,850 m) from the drillship Discoverer 534, hitting three intervals of oil.
A second well was drilled in block 822, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of the initial discovery, reaching a depth of 29,000 feet (8,800 m) in November 2000 and also encountered three primary intervals of oil.
In February 2001 a new field known as Thunder Horse North was drilled in block 776, approximately 5 miles northwest of the original field.
(Source and image: BP/Chron/Wikipedia – Thunderhorse South Expansion works)