BP’s GoM Thunder Horse strategy

BP’s Thunder Horse platform can extract some 265,000 barrels of oil a day. It’s one of four Gulf of Mexico platforms on which BP has staked its future in U.S. oil production. It’s been seven years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, but BP is betting billions on the prospect that it can slash the costs of offshore drilling by half. BP's platforms are key to a global strategy calling for up to $17B in annual investments through 2021 to increase production by some 5 percent annually, according to CEO Bob Dudley. BP's deep-water double-down is striking for the contrast to its chief competitors, who have cooled on offshore investments in return for quicker returns of onshore shale. Some 300 BP workers commute 150 miles by helicopter from the Louisiana coast to the GoM platform that can produce more oil in a day than a West Texas rig can pump annually. (Source: Marine Link 06/27/17)