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Gulf Thunder Hawk discovery sanctioned Murphy says first oil from floating production facility expected in 2009; Thunder Bird also likely to get development nod Ray Tyson For Petroleum News
The Murphy-operated Thunder Hawk discovery, just north of the giant BP-operated Thunder Horse field, the largest oil find ever in the Gulf of Mexico, has been sanctioned for development, with first oil from a standalone floating production facility expected in 2009.
Murphy Oil also disclosed in a conference call with industry analysts that another one of its “Thunder” prospects, called Thunder Bird, likely will be developed, with production tied back via a subsea pipeline to the Dominion-operated Devil’s Tower platform on Mississippi Canyon Block 773.
Pre-drill reserve estimates for Thunder Bird ranged from 50 million to 75 million barrels of oil equivalent. The discovery is on Mississippi Canyon Block 819, about 15 miles west of Thunder Hawk.
However, another exploratory well — a sidetrack off the discovery well — is required before the owners decide whether to pursue development at Thunder Bird, Claiborne Deming, Murphy’s president and chief executive officer, told analysts on Oct. 25.
“I think the working assumption is that it will be developed,” he added. “And the working assumption is we’ll bring it on stream in 2008. But all these are assumptions, because we need to sidetrack and see what we have.”
Semi-submersible unit at Thunder Hawk However, Thunder Hawk development will proceed with “a standardized, semi-submersible unit” capable of handling 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and expandable to 60,000 barrels per day “with slight modifications,” Deming said, noting that the production facility is to be installed on Mississippi Canyon Block 736.
“We’ll have the capability of further expansion to accommodate additional production for any satellite discoveries or third-party tie-backs, if needed,” he said.
Thunder Hawk, on Mississippi Canyon Block 734 in about 5,700 feet of water, will be operated as a standalone development, Murphy spokeswoman Mindy West told Petroleum News. She said the floating production unit will be supplied by Atlantia, the same company that is providing offshore facilities for the huge Independence Hub natural gas development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
“So, the facility will be owned by Atlantia, and the Thunder Hawk partners will have a production throughput ‘lease’ arrangement, not uncommon for large projects such as this,” West said.
Thunder Ridge exploration continues Murphy and its partners are developing the Thunder Hawk field using a range of 50-to 80 millions barrels of reserves, down from pre-drill estimates of up to 150 million barrels of reserves. Facility installation is scheduled for late 2008, in preparation for first oil in 2009, Murphy said.
Meanwhile, exploratory drilling continues on the third “Thunder” prospect, called Thunder Ridge, Murphy’s Deming said. Thunder Ridge is a 100-million to 200-million barrel target on Mississippi Canyon Block 736, just six miles east of Thunder Hawk.
Thunder Hawk, Thunder Bird and Thunder Ridge are on the edge of the Boarshead Basin, a highly fertile region of the Central Gulf of Mexico that had industry analysts speculating over resource potential before the colossal Thunder Horse discovery was announced in 1999.
Thunder Horse, scheduled to come onstream in mid-2008 after several delays, contains an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves. The Thunder Horse North satellite contains an additional 400 million barrels of estimated reserves.
Thunder Horse, owned by BP (75 percent) and ExxonMobil (25 percent), is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.
Murphy and its partners, before deciding on a standalone facility for Thunder Hawk, considered tying back Thunder Hawk production to the BP-operated Thunder Horse facility.
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