BP to boost oil & gas production from Thunder Horse

Oil giant BP has started up a water injection project at its Thunder Horse platform, extending the production life of one of the biggest deepwater fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The project will boost recovery of oil and natural gas from one of the Thunder Horse field’s three main reservoirs, the oil company explained.

Over the past three years, BP refurbished the platform’s existing topsides and subsea equipment while also drilling two water-injection wells at the site. From those wells, BP stated, water will be injected into the reservoir to increase pressure and enhance production.

According to the company, the improvements are expected to allow the Thunder Horse platform to recover an additional 65 million barrels of oil equivalent over time.

The project, the second of five major upstream projects BP expects to bring online in 2016, is part of BP’s plan to add approximately 800,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of new production globally from projects starting up between 2015 and 2020.

“This project will help BP sustain high levels of oil production in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico for years to come,” said Richard Morrison, regional president of BP’s Gulf of Mexico business.

The Thunder Horse platform, which sits in more than 6,000 feet of water and began production in June 2008, has the capacity to handle 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. The facility continued to operate while work on the water injection project was underway.

In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, BP operates four large production platforms – Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog and Na Kika – and holds interests in four non-operated hubs – Mars, Mars B, Ursa and Great White.

BP has two other major projects underway in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The Thunder Horse South Expansion project will add a new subsea drill center roughly two miles from the Thunder Horse platform.

In addition, BP continues to design the Mad Dog Phase 2 project, which will develop resources in the central area of the Mad Dog field through a subsea development tied back to a new floating production hub consisting of up to 24 wells from four drill centers.