BP starts up Thunderhorse South Expansion 11 months ahead of schedule

BP started up its Thunder Horse South Expansion in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of schedule and under budget, with the latter being the result of its use of standardised equipment instead of customised components. It was expected to be the first of several major upstream start-ups scheduled for 2017 and marked "a major step" towards meeting the oil major´s target of bringing the 800,000 barrels a day of new capacity onstream by 2020, the company said in a statement. The expansion was completed $150.0m - more than 15% - under budget and 11 months ahead of schedule, with the first new well for the project yielding the biggest amount of hydrocarbon bearing sand seen to date at the Thunder Horse field, confirming over 500 feet of net pay.