Beneath the surface: bp’s high-tech approach to Gulf of America oil exploration
Hear how seismic imaging enables bp’s exploration directly from Peter Evans, VP of subsurface
Across bp’s five offshore platforms in the Gulf of America, the company is investing in people and infrastructure, all in support of delivering the energy the world needs for today, and for tomorrow.
One of the leaders steering that effort is geologist Peter Evans, bp’s vice president of subsurface for the Gulf of America. Evans recently shared insights on bp’s plans for the Gulf of America with Puck’s "The Grill Room" podcast.
Read an edited excerpt and listen to their conversations below.
Peter Evans interview (4-29)
You’ve shared that bp has been in the US for over 150 years. What does it mean to deliver energy today?
bp is one of the Gulf of America’s largest oil producers – we’re safely delivering energy to America and the world. And bp has a larger footprint in the US than anywhere in our global portfolio. Over the last two years, we’ve invested over $130 billion in the US economy.
When we talk about the work we do, we have to talk about safety. Safety is hugely important – we don’t do anything unless we think it’s safe. Everything we do, day in and day out – from the work at the office in Houston to the work at our offshore facilities – starts with safety.
In the Gulf of America, we operate five platforms, and they’re incredible structures. They’re built with innovative technologies that help us access oil, and they’re incredibly constructed to feed and house the people who live there.
To safely supply secure energy to the US today, we need to continue our work in the region. We know that energy demand is continuing to increase, and that energy is delivered through technology and innovation.
With one of our largest workforces in the world in the US, and with 40% of our company capital deployed here, we’re continuing to aim to be one of the country’s top energy producers and continue to make those investments to stay there.
Peter Evans interview (5-23)
Can you share more about how you know where to get oil, and what’s next?
Absolutely. Producing energy is an incredible team effort. From engineers and operators offshore to people looking after helicopters and logistics – it’s a huge effort!
The question of how to decide where to drill a new well is quite a fun one for me. It gets into the subsurface. I describe the Gulf of America as a very prolific oil and gas basin – one of the largest in the world. And as geologists, we use seismic data to help us understand the best location for a well.
To get seismic data, we send soundwaves into the earth. We record these waves as they come back, as they rebound off layers, and then we use complex programs and very large computers to generate a 3D picture of the subsurface. This can help us in identifying new oil for an exploration well; or if we’ve already made a discovery, it can help us understand how best to develop that field and do it efficiently and safely.
In the industry, we have new technologies that allow us to access previously unexplored areas in the region.
For example, we began work last year on our Kaskida project. It’s going to be about 250 miles from New Orleans in the Gulf. Kaskida, which we plan to have producing oil in 2029, is in an area with deeper, harder rocks, and it’s also in an area with about 10 billion barrels of oil. To access these barrels, we use a relatively new technology in the industry called “20K,” or 20,000 psi. That pressure reading is what’s required for the geology in the area, and it’s really starting to be used in the Gulf over the last few years.
It’s these innovations, these technology leaps, that enable oil and gas to not only be found more efficiently, but developed and delivered safely.
We’re also excited because the model we’re using to build Kaskida is a standardized design that we can use for hopeful additional projects in the area – we’ll be able to use 85% of the previous design on future projects. We’ll have a fantastic opportunity to transfer learnings from one platform to the next.
Peter Evans interview (6-24)
You’ve shared how bp delivers energy today, and how you’ll deliver energy for tomorrow. Is there anything coming soon that excites you?
Of course – I love that you asked that. It’s really all quite exciting. We understand the need to have secure supplies of energy to the US and we’re trying to do our part.
We just made a discovery in April called Far South. We’re analyzing results from the exploration well right now and it does look very promising.
These folks are incredible, and they are the true experts at the company. I get to see multi-disciplinary teams come together to solve really challenging problems – it’s exciting to be part of that.