Our resilient hydrocarbons business is a key pillar in bp’s transformation into an integrated energy company. “Resilient” means hydrocarbons that can withstand volatility in the market and are connected to nearby, preexisting infrastructure.
Our Gulf of Mexico business exemplifies this approach while producing bp oil and natural gas. We currently operate five deepwater production platforms in the region, including Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse. In April 2023 we brought online our fifth offshore platform, Argos, which will help us increase our Gulf of Mexico production to around 400,000 barrels per day by mid-decade, and average 350,000 barrels per day through the end of the decade.
bp expects to increase production in the Gulf of Mexico to around 400,000 boe/d by the mid-2020s. Through investments in technology and infrastructure, we also expect to cut emissions by 20% in the region by 2030. Not only will emissions reductions in that business be essential to helping us achieve our net zero ambition, the cash flows from our oil and gas production will also allow us to invest in the energy transition.
Over the past few years, we have brought several other projects online in the Gulf of Mexico while using advanced technology to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of our operations.
One was the safe start-up of our Manuel project, which includes a new subsea production system for two new wells tied into the Na Kika platform. bp expects these wells to boost gross platform production by 20,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
In September 2021, we safely and successfully started-up our Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 project. This project is expected to increase output at one of the largest fields in the Gulf of Mexico by 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
And the Herschel Expansion project was completed in February 2022. Phase 1 comprises development of a new subsea production system and the first of up to three wells tied to the Na Kika platform. At its peak, this first well is expected to increase platform annual gross production by an estimated 10,600 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Tying each of these together is our Remote Collaboration Center located in Houston. Utilizing leading-edge technology to create a collaborative real-time environment, it is devoted entirely to preventing safety incidents, rather than improving performance. Specialists in the facility are in constant communication with offshore rig teams to monitor and analyze real-time data, focusing on pumps, pits, flow rates and pressures.