Oil major BP on Tuesday announced the start-up of its Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The second phase is expected to increase output at one of the largest fields in the Gulf of Mexico, with peak annual average gross production of 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from the initial two well tie-back.
"Eventually, a total of eight wells are expected to be drilled as part of the project’s overall development. The Phase 2 start-up is part of BP’s plans to grow its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production to around 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day net by the mid-2020s," BP said.
Starlee Sykes, BP senior vice president, Gulf of Mexico and Canada said: “This has been a pivotal year for our Gulf of Mexico business as we continue to start up new projects. Bringing high-margin, resilient barrels online in basins we know best is central to BP's strategy. Our team has consistently and safely delivered during a pandemic – and with over a million hours worked without a safety incident, this project is no exception. I could not be prouder of the team.”
Thunder Horse, located 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, is the British oil major's largest production and drilling platform in the Gulf. It is designed to process up to 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. BP has a 75% stake, with ExxonMobil holding 25%.
Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 is located on Mississippi Canyon block 822, Southeast of the BP-operated Thunder Horse platform in 6,350 feet of water. The Thunder Horse field was discovered in 1999 and is one of BP’s biggest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP said that 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 onstream for BP this year.
BP operates four production platforms in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico – Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog, and Na Kika – with a fifth platform, Argos, expected to come online in 2022.