BP starts Manuel project at Na Kika platform in Gulf of Mexico
June 23, 2021
BP has advanced work to add 900,000 boe/d of global production from new projects by yearend with startup of the Manuel project in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Manuel, in Mississippi Canyon block 520 in 6,625 ft of water, is the fourth of five major projects expected to be delivered this year. Development includes a new subsea production system for two new wells tied into the Na Kika platform. The wells are expected to increase gross platform production by an estimated 20,100 boe/d.
The BP-operated wells, drilled to a depth of 21,000 ft, lie southeast of the platform, some 140 miles off the coast of New Orleans. Drilling encountered oil pay in Miocene sandstone reservoirs.
BP and Shell each hold a 50% working interest in Manuel development.
BP operates four production platforms in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico—Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog, and Na Kika—with a fifth platform, Argos, expected to come online in 2022.
The operator expects its US Gulf of Mexico production to grow to more than 400,000 boe/d by the mid-2020s.
