bp, the British energy giant, delivered first oil from the Atlantis Drill Center 1 expansion project in the US Gulf of America, its seventh upstream major project startup of the year. The project is expected to add 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), which is the highest expected daily output from the project, averaged over a full year, at the existing Atlantis platform.
Atlantis, one of bp’s longest-running platforms in the Gulf of America, has a gross production capacity of up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day, according to a bp release.
bp delivered the Atlantis Drill Center 1 expansion project two months ahead of its original schedule by utilizing existing subsea inventory, drilling and completing wells more efficiently, and streamlining offshore execution planning. This is bp’s fifth major startup that has been delivered ahead of schedule this year.
Atlantis Drill Center 1 caps off an excellent year of seven major project start-ups for bp. This project supports bp plans to safely grow its upstream business, which includes increasing US production to around 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.
“This latest success demonstrates the dedication of US project team and bp’s teams around the world, who are delivering new barrels at pace and with lower production costs, in service of growing long-term value for shareholders,” said Gordon Birrell, bp’s executive vice president of production and operations.
The Atlantis Drill Center 1 expansion is the second in a series of new projects bp is planning in the US Gulf of America between now and the end of the decade that are expected to enable bp to boost its capacity to produce more than 400,000 boe/d from the US offshore region by 2030.
bp is Atlantis’ operator with 56% working interest. The co-owner is Woodside Energy (44% working interest).
In addition to the Atlantis Drill Center 1 expansion project, bp started up major projects this year in Trinidad and Tobago (2), the UK North Sea, Egypt, Mauritania and Senegal, as well as Argos Southwest Expansion in the Gulf of America – contributing to its plan to deliver 10 major project startups globally by 2027.
