The Thunder Horse Northwest Expansion project was taken up to boost production at the Thunder Horse field in the Mississippi Canyon by an estimated 30,000 boe/d.
BP said that the expansion project has been brought on stream four months ahead of schedule and 15% under budget.
The oil and gas major further said that the Thunder Horse Northwest Expansion project, which produced its first oil 16 months after being sanctioned, adds a new subsea manifold and two wells tied into existing flowlines 3.2kms to the north of the Thunder Horse platform.
Thunder Horse Northwest Expansion marks the fourth major upstream project to be put into production by BP this year, which are preceded by seven that started up last year and six in 2016.
The oil and gas giant expects that the projects, entering into production between 2016 and 2021, will deliver it with 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) of new production by 2021.
BP upstream CEO Bernard Looney said: “Our business in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates our Upstream strategy in action. Leveraging our world-class position and facilities, we are bringing new barrels online rapidly and efficiently, and uncovering more opportunities nearby.
“We are focused on growing value and these projects in the Gulf are competitive with any opportunities we have worldwide. This is what we mean by growing advantaged oil.”
Production at the Thunder Horse Northwest Expansion project follows two other significant field expansions at Thunder Horse in recent times. Last year, an expansion of Thunder Horse’s south field, through a four well tie-back to the floating hub, increased gross production at the offshore field by more than 50,000 boe/d.
In 2016, BP commissioned a major water injection project at the Thunder Horse field to further improve oil production at the field.
BP is the operator of the Thunder Horse field with a 75% stake and is partnered by ExxonMobil, which holds the remaining stake of 25%.
