Thunder Horse Oil Field

Thunder Horse oil field is a large offshore deepwater oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, around southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana.DescriptionThe field is being developed by BP plc and 25% partner ExxonMobil It is the largest offshore production platform in the Gulf, with a processing capacity of of oil and 200Mcuft/d of natural gas, and the field is believed to hold in excess of of oil. Actual production approached capacity in March 2009, but started to decline soon after that.Discovery and developmentThe Thunder Horse discovery well was drilled in 1999 on Mississippi Canyon block 778. It was drilled to a depth of from the drillship Discoverer Enterprise, hitting three intervals of oil.A second well was drilled in block 822, southeast of the initial discovery, reaching a depth of in November 2000 and also encountered three primary intervals of oil.In February 2001 a new field known as Thunder Horse North was drilled in block 776, approximately 5 miles northwest of the original field. This well reached and again met three intervals of oil.Actually developing the field was a major technological challenge due to the depth of the find. Not only are the distances large, but at such depths the formations holding the hydrocarbons create pressures over 1200bar and temperatures of. Prior to Thunder Horse, no field had ever been developed at such a depth.