BP Production to Grow with Thunder Horse South Expansion

[thackney]

BP Production to Grow with Thunder Horse South Expansion
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/148213/BP_Production_to_Grow_with_Thunder_Horse_South_Expansion
by  Karen Boman Monday, January 23, 2017

BP plc made another step towards its goal of adding 800,000 barrels of new production by 2020 with the start of production in December from the Thunder Horse South Expansion project.

The project is expected to increase production at Thunder Horse, one of the largest Gulf of Mexico fields, by an estimated 50,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent.

The Thunder Horse South Expansion project also started 11 months ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget. These facts demonstrate that deepwater projects can be executed in a cost-effective way “while keeping a relentless focus on safety,” Richard Morrison, regional president of BP’s Gulf of Mexico business, said in a Jan. 23 press statement.

BP achieved the savings by relying on proven standardized equipment and technology, rather than building customized components. To keep costs down, BP used the same type of equipment from FMC Technologies that had previously been used at Thunder Horse. The vast majority of the subsea equipment, such as the jumpers and manifolds, is exactly the same kind used previously at Thunder Horse.

BP also utilized Technip’s remotely operated vehicle simulator and modelling to map out subsea construction, BP spokesperson Jason Ryan told Rigzone.

“Thunder Horse South Expansion – along with our recent approval of the $9 billion Mad Dog Phase 2 platform – demonstrates that the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remains a key part of our global portfolio today and for many years to come,” BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in the release.

For the expansion project, BP added a new subsea production system roughly two miles to the south of the existing Thunder Horse platform. The system is a collection point for wells connected to the Thunder Hose platform by two 11,000-foot flowlines installed on the seabed late last year....

[thackney]

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2017/01/bp-starts-production-from-thunder-horse-south-expansion-project.html

The Thunder Horse platform sits 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 of oil gross and 200 MMcfd gross of natural gas. The facility continued to operate during construction and installation of the new subsea production and pipeline system.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

An impressive development.  The field was discovered by ignoring seismic attributes and instead concentrated upon regional work and old-fashioned geology.

As in most oil fields, the larger the field, the more one can be confident in predicting the size will grow over time.

[Hondo69]

If I remember correctly, this field is similar to some in West Texas where the experts assumed it would be played out by now but to everyone's surprise it keeps producing at steady levels.  The conclusion being the oil field is larger than anyone expected.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

If I remember correctly, this field is similar to some in West Texas where the experts assumed it would be played out by now but to everyone's surprise it keeps producing at steady levels.  The conclusion being the oil field is larger than anyone expected.

I have been in reserves estimation for over 40 years.

It is hard fact that reserves tend to be revised upwards over time on the larger fields.