Three Years After Storm-Induced Shutdown, BP's Thunder Horse Project Begins Pumping Oil & Gas

[hatrack]

BP's long-delayed Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico is finally pumping oil and gas.

BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell said today that Thunder Horse started pumping from a single well on Saturday, launching the start of a lengthy commissioning process. "There's still a lot of work to do. There are other wells to prepare for production and others to drill and complete. But we're on track, making good progress, and on schedule to have the field online by year-end," he said.

When the structure 150 miles southeast of New Orleans reaches its full daily capacity of 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of natural gas, Thunder Horse will be the biggest producer in the Gulf.

Thunder Horse originally was slated to start producing three years ago. But system and design troubles prompted lengthy delays for repairs. Ballast system failures left the installation listing 20 degrees after Hurricane Dennis blew through the Gulf in July 2005. About a year later a crucial piece of equipment on the seabed sprung a leak, forcing BP to haul the piece back to shore for repairs.

EDIT

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/5840889.html

[JDPriestly]

1. There will be a lot of these miraculous recoveries -- just in time

to lull the American people into voting for the oil and gas companies' favorite candidates in November -- and then the oil market will gradually tighten again. Same old, same old. They do it every four years, I think.

[ElectricGrid]

3. BS ... I have a good friend who has been working on this platform..

the problems have been many. Not some sort of grand coverup. Get back on your meds man.

[JDPriestly]

4. There is always an excuse for raising the prices and then

dropping them before the election. Your friends may be right, but just watch. Problems with the platforms in the Gulf are part of doing business for the oil producers. That's not the cause of the high prices, but putting them back in action will be raised to explain why suddenly prices go down.

I saw a short video on DU earlier today that shows how many of McCain's advisers have worked as lobbyists for various oil companies. Nothing against oil companies. We need them, but like others who own supply, they use their control to grab as much in profits as they can.

Here in L.A., people are driving much, much less. Demand for gasoline on our freeways is not rising. It's falling very fast. So should oil prices and quickly. We'll see what happens.

[kestrel91316]

2. Just in time for hurricane season.....

[Strelnikov_]

5. As sure a sign of the Apocalypse as the Cubs winning the world series n/t