ExxonMobil funds its share of Thunder Horse

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Aug. 21 that it has approved funding for its share of the Thunder Horse development in the Gulf of Mexico some 150 miles southeast of New Orleans.

ExxonMobil owns a 25 percent interest in the development. BP is operator for the project, with a 75 percent interest.

The Thunder Horse and Thunder Horse North fields that will be developed together are in water depths ranging from 5,800 to 6,500 feet, ExxonMobil said.

The fields will be developed through “what will be the world’s largest semi-submersible floating production, drilling and quarters unit,” the company said. Peak production will be 250,000 barrels per day of liquids and 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from as many as 20 subsea wells beneath the PDQ unit and additional nearby wells.

ExxonMobil said recovery could be in excess of a billion oil-equivalent barrels, “making Thunder Horse the largest discovery to date in the Gulf of Mexico.” Initial production is scheduled for 2005.

ExxonMobil also said a subsidiary, ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., has acquired a 25 percent ownership interest in both the Proteus Oil Pipeline Co. LLC and Endymion Pipeline Co. LLC.

Once permitting is complete, the two companies will begin constructing a pipeline to carry crude oil from the Thunder Horse field to onshore storage and distribution facilities.

ExxonMobil said the combined system will have an initial capacity of approximately 420,000 bpd “and will offer attractive transportation for future oil production from other fields in this area of the Gulf of Mexico.”

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2005 to coincide with the start of oil production from the Thunder Horse facilities.