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More thunder from deep Gulf of Mexico Murphy’s Thunder Bird discovery confirms vastness of BP’s giant Thunder Horse play in Boarshead basin; sub-sea tie-back planned Ray Tyson For Petroleum News
Murphy Oil’s deepwater Thunder Bird discovery in Mississippi Canyon further confirms the broad reach of the hydrocarbon-rich geological basin that spawned the BP-operated Thunder Horse field, the largest oil discovery ever in the Gulf of Mexico at an official 1 billion barrels recoverable.
Thunder Bird operator Murphy provided scant detail about the recent discovery on Mississippi Canyon Block 819, saying only that Thunder Bird likely would be produced as a sub-sea tie-back to an existing “facility nearby,” presumably Thunder Horse, Devil’s Tower or Blind Faith.
“The development options for the discovery have not been finalized,” Murphy said in a June 20 press release announcing the new discovery, the company’s second find in a trio of prospects near the BP-ExxonMobil Thunder Horse and satellite Thunder Horse North fields.
Pre-drill reserve estimates for Thunder Bird ranged from 50 million to 75 million barrels of oil equivalent, a modest accumulation by deepwater standards. However, the Murphy group also has an estimated 50 million to 150 million barrels at its Thunder Hawk discovery and perhaps another 100-200 million barrels at Thunder Ridge, the third prospect yet to be drilled by the threesome. That would make a combined 200 million to 425 million barrels of potential recoverable reserves for the three Mississippi Canyon prospects, a tidy sum by anyone’s standards.
Discoveries on edges of Boarshead basin Thunder Bird, Thunder Hawk and Thunder Ridge are on the edges of the Boarshead basin, a highly fertile region of the Central Gulf that had industry analysts speculating over resource potential before the colossal Thunder Horse discovery was announced in 1999.
“In the Mississippi Canyon area you can see Murphy’s acreage position surrounding what is known as the Boarshead basin. We have a significant position on all of the three main ridges,” John Higgins, Murphy’s president of U.S. exploration and production, said at the company’s annual analysts meeting on May 9.
Early unofficial estimates ranged up to 7 billion barrels of recoverable reserves at Thunder Horse, although analysts often cited 3 billion barrels as the reserve mean. BP and Exxon claimed around 1 billion barrels for Thunder Horse and an additional 400 million barrels for Thunder Horse North, for an official total of 1.4 billion barrels for the eight-block Thunder Horse complex, which is scheduled for startup later this year, with a production facility capable of handling 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.
If nothing else, the Murphy group proved that Thunder Horse and the Boarshead basin have running room, demonstrated by its Thunder Hawk and now Thunder Bird discoveries. Murphy also has high hopes for the Thunder Ridge prospect on Mississippi Canyon block 736, likely to be drilled following completion of the nearby Chevron-operated Caterpillar exploration well, Murphy’s Higgins said, adding that Murphy also will operate Thunder Ridge. Well costs at Thunder Ridge are anticipated to be around $70 million. Targets depth would be about 28,000 feet, Murphy said.
“That’s going to be a prospect that we’ll be looking at very hard,” Higgins said of Caterpillar, noting that Caterpillar at the time of Murphy’s analysts meeting was expected to spud in four to six months. Prior to announcing the Thunder Bird discovery in June, he added: “We think we have a very good drilling opportunity in Thunder Ridge and Thunder Bird and the surrounding prospects that we have associated with the ridges in the Boarshead basin.”
Murphy has 37.5 percent Murphy owns a 37.5 percent working interest in the Thunder Bird discovery, while Dominion Exploration & Production holds a 25 percent interest, Hydro Gulf of Mexico a 25 percent share, and Marubeni Offshore Production (USA) a 12.5 percent interest. Norway’s Hydro inherited its position in the three Thunder prospects with its takeover of Spinnaker Exploration, as did Japan’s Marubeni with its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources’ deepwater Gulf properties.
Dominion operated the group’s first Boarshead basin discovery at Thunder Hawk, located in Mississippi Canyon block 734 on the northeastern fringe of the giant Thunder Horse field. Appraisal drilling encountered more than 500 feet of hydrocarbon pay in two high-quality zones, placing Thunder Hawk in the same league as other large deepwater discoveries in the U.S. Gulf, based on pay thickness alone.
The new Thunder Bird discovery is west of the Thunder Horse field, while Thunder Ridge is east of Thunder Horse. Murphy also has nearby farm-in agreements with BP on Mississippi Canyon block 692, with BHP Billiton on Mississippi Canyon block 693, and with Chevron on Mississippi Canyon block 737 from Chevron.
The Murphy group is studying four development options for Thunder Hawk, three of which involve sub-sea tiebacks to offshore production facilities at BP-operated Thunder Horse, Dominion-operated Devil’s Tower or Chevron-operated Blind Faith, Higgins said, adding that the group also is “entertaining” a standalone production facility at Thunder Hawk.
“If we go to those options (tiebacks) naturally we wouldn’t be building a facility,” Higgins said. “We are weighing all of our options.” According to Higgins, the group likely would reach a decision on a development plan in less than a month.
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