Thunder Horse: No ordinary project

Thunder Horse is the world’s largest floating platform.

BP’s huge Thunder Horse platform pushes the frontiers of technology.

Thunder Horse is one of the key discoveries upon which the company is growing its future Gulf of Mexico production. Designed to process 250,000 barrels of oil per day and 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, Thunder Horse is actually exceeding those goals. It is not only the largest producer in the Gulf, it is the largest deepwater producing asset in the world

World class field

Located 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, the Thunder Horse field is one of the world’s most technologically complex, in part because of the challenging deepwater environment.

Only when you sail past the Thunder Horse production-drilling-quarters (PDQ) platform can you really appreciate the sheer scale and complexity of this mighty floating structure. The platform’s topside area is the size of three football fields, packed with the latest equipment and systems designed to operate in one of the most inhospitable environments on earth: the deep ocean floor.

First production

“First oil” at the world’s largest floating drilling and production platform came on June 14, 2008. Since then, Thunder Horse has steadily ramped up its production by bringing on new wells. In March 2009, Thunder Horse produced over 300 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day from just seven wells. Plans are in place to add two additional wells in 2009 to further develop the north end of the field.

"Thunder Horse is a powerful symbol of what BP can achieve through its world class people, capability and technology,” says Neil Shaw, Gulf of Mexico Srategic Performance Unit leader. “It's been a long journey from the original discovery back in 1999 and very many people have played a part in delivering the success we are seeing today. With the early performance of the Thunder Horse reservoir and facilities, we are confident of a great future for this asset."

High-Tech Wonder

Few think of energy as a high-tech business, but Thunder Horse proves them wrong. The largest production semi-submersible ever built, it floats one mile above the ocean floor, while its reservoir lies some three miles beneath mud, rock and salt. At that depth, the formations holding the hydrocarbons create pressures over 1,200 bars (one bar is sea level) and temperatures of 135˚C (211˚ F) – conditions rarely encountered anywhere in the offshore world.

There were many technology gaps to fill when the project started and BP pushed beyond existing limits to fill them. The learning we have gained in doing so will benefit not only BP’s future deepwater projects, but the industry as a whole.

Thunder Horse at a glance:

Platform design: semi-submersible
Block: Mississippi Canyon 778/822
Platform production rating: 250,000 barrels of oil per day; 200 million cubic feet of gas per day
Co-owner: Exxon (25%)