BP Assessing Damage to Thunder Horse Platform in Gulf of Mexico.HOUSTON -- BP (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BP) today confirmed that the Thunder Horse Thunder Horse is the largest moored semi-submersible oil platform in the world, located in 1,920 metres (6,300 ft) of water in the Mississippi Canyon Block 778/822, Thunder Horse oilfield, about 150 miles (241 km) southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. semi-submersible platform A Semi-submersible platform or rig, is a mobile structure used for drilling for oil and natural gas in offshore environments. Their superstructures are supported by columns sitting on hulls or pontoons which are ballasted below the water surface. , located in Mississippi Canyon Block 778 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east , 150 miles southeast of New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded , is listing following the passing of Hurricane Dennis This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 2005. For other storms of the same name, see Hurricane Dennis (disambiguation). Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. . Early reports confirmed that the platform is listing an estimated 20 - 30 degrees. The Thunder Horse field is in development and has not yet begun production of hydrocarbons. The situation was discovered at approximately 8:30 a.m. Monday morning by a vessel in the area. The cause is unknown. The Thunder Horse platform had been evacuated of all personnel on Friday in anticipation of the hurricane's approach. At this time there has been no known release of any fuel or hazardous substances. BP immediately activated its Incident Command structure, notified the appropriate regulatory agencies regulatory agency Independent government commission charged by the legislature with setting and enforcing standards for specific industries in the private sector. The concept was invented by the U.S. including the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) An enhanced transmission service that enables graphics, video clips and sound files to be transmitted via cellphones. Developed as part of the 3GPP project, MMS phones are generally backward compatible with SMS and EMS. ) and the U.S. Coast Guard, and conducted over flights to further assess the extent of the damage. At this time BP is mobilizing a number of response vessels to the Thunder Horse location and working with the Coast Guard to create a response plan. The first priority will be to safely board the vessel for a further assessment of its stability and to begin investigating potential causes of the issue. BP and the Coast Guard are collaborating to establish a Unified Command A command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander and composed of significant assigned components of two or more Military Departments that is established and so designated by the President, through the Secretary of Defense with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of in Morgan City, Louisiana Morgan City (previously known as Brashear) is a city in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. [1] [2] The population was 12,703 at the 2000 census. Morgan City is home to the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. . More information, including a photograph of the Thunder Horse platform, is available on the web at www.bpissuenews.com
Thunder Horse Fact Sheet
Moored Semi-submersible PDQ (Modularized Production, Integrated
Drilling and Quarters); ABS Classed and Certified "Floating Offshore
Installation"; All Subsea Wells
Location Mississippi Canyon 778/822, 150 miles SE of New Orleans
Operator BP (75%)
Partner ExxonMobil (25%)
Water Depth 6050 ft (@ PDQ location)
Design Life 25 years
Processing Capability
Annualized average throughput - Oil 250,000 BOPD
Annualized average throughput - Gas 200 MMSCFD
Produced Water Peak 140M BWPD
Water Injection 200 to 300M BWIPD
Topsides Description
Topsides layout 3 production / utilities modules
Topside modules lift weight 21,000 short tons
Main Power Generation Capability 90 MW.
Derrick 2MM lbs Maximum; Auxiliary Hoisting Capability
Quarters 229 persons
Helideck sized for an S-61 w/S-61 parked
Hull Description
Lightship weight 75,000 metric tons
Dry Transport weight 59,500 metric tons
Hull Displacement 129,000 metric tons
Mooring 16 x 5 3/4" wire rope & chain with suction pile
Main Deck 112 x 136 m
Normal Draft 30 m
Column Dimensions 2 @ 22 x 26 m.; 2 @ 22 x 23 m by 36 m. height
Pontoon Height 11.5 m
Deck Freeboard 17.5 m
Discovery Announced July 15, 1999
First Oil 2005
Thunder Horse Field Discovered in 1999, the Thunder Horse Field development is designed to utilize the largest Production Drilling Quarters (PDQ (Parallel Data Query) A query optimized for massively parallel processors (MPPs). The software breaks down the query into pieces so that several parts of the database can be searched simultaneously. See SMP. ) semi-submersible platform in the world. It weighs more than 50,000 tons and will produce from some of the deepest wells in the Gulf. The facility is designed to process 250,000 b/d and 200 mmcf/d with first oil expected in 2005 Oil and gas is planned to be transported to existing shelf and onshore interconnections via the Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (mär`dē grä), last day before the fasting season of Lent. It is the French name for Shrove Tuesday. Literally translated, the term means "fat Tuesday" and was so called because it represented the last opportunity for Transportation System. --BP operates the development (75% interest), with co-venturer ExxonMobil owning the balance. --Thunder Horse consists of two adjacent fields ('north' and 'south') being developed together. --Reservoirs are Upper Miocene turbidite tur·bi·dite n. A sedimentary deposit formed by a turbidity current. turbidite A sedimentary deposit formed by a turbidity current. sandstones. --Field will be developed via semi-submersible Production / Drilling / Quarters facility, supported by a network of 25 wet-tree subsea Subsea is a general term frequently used to refer to equipment, technology, and methods employed to explore, drill, and develop oil and gas fields that exist below the ocean floors. This may be in "shallow" or "deepwater". wells. --Export is via separately funded and approved Mardi Gras export pipelines. --Project is in the execution phase currently, with the Hull having been built in Okpo, Korea, and the topsides modules built in Morgan City, Louisiana. --Pre-drilling program is underway. BP in the Gulf of Mexico BP began deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations in the mid 1980s. BP now produces in excess of 300,000 boe/d (barrels of oil equivalent per day) from nearly two dozen fields, including BP operated facilities at Pompano, Marlin, Horn Mountain and Na Kika. BP also operates a number of subsea developments in the Gulf. Execution of our exploration strategy has delivered excellent results, yielding a strong portfolio of large, high quality development projects. Focused exploration will continue across our portfolio. |
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