The Herschel expansion project is a new deepwater oil field located in the Gulf of Mexico, US. It is operated by BP with 50% interest, while the remaining 50% working interest is owned by Shell.
Production from the first well of the project started in February 2022.
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Herschel expansion field location
The Herschel expansion field is located southeast of the Na Kika platform in the Mississippi Canyon block 520 at a water depth of approximately 6,700ft (2,042.16m).
The Na Kika platform is located 225km off the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Herschel expansion project details
The Herschel expansion project includes the development of a new subsea production system and drilling of up to three wells. The wells will be tied back to the Na Kika platform in the Gulf of Mexico through an extension of the Manuel project high-pressure flowline, installed as part of the Manuel oil field development.
The first well of the expansion project was tied back to the Na Kika platform during the first phase. Located southeast of the Na Kika platform, the well was drilled to a depth of about 19,000ft (5,791m). It is expected to add 10,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to the Na Kika platform’s production capacity.
Two more wells are expected to come online in the remaining phases of the expansion project.
Na Kika platform details
Na Kika is a semi-submersible, deepwater production platform located at a water depth of approximately 6,340ft (1,932m). BP is the operator of the platform and has 50% ownership, while Shell owns the remaining 50%.
The platform serves as a production hub for eight subsea fields, which are tied back to the platform with more than 160km of infield flowlines.
Operational since 2003, Na Kika can process up to 130,000boe/d and 550 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.
Project background
The Herschel expansion project is one of the projects undertaken by BP to increase net production to 900 million boe by 2021/2022. BP commissioned the Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 project in 2021, in addition to the Manuel project, as part of this plan.
The Manuel deepwater oil project was developed under a partnership between BP (50%) and Shell (50%). It included the development of a new subsea production system and two wells that were tied back to the Na Kika platform. Commissioned in June 2021, the field is expected to boost the gross production of the Na Kika platform by an estimated 20,100boe/d.
The Thunder Horse South Expansion Phase 2 expanded the production capacity of the Thunder Horse field by adding two new subsea production units. It was brought on stream in September 2021. The Thunder Horse field is owned by BP (75%, operator) and ExxonMobil (25%).
Other projects operated by BP in the Gulf of Mexico
Mad Dog Phase 2 is another project being developed in the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to be commissioned in 2022. It will include a new semi-submersible floating production platform that will be moored southwest of the existing Mad Dog platform. The new platform will be able to produce up to 140,000 gross barrels of crude oil a day from 14 production wells.
BP operates five production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, which include Argos, Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse.
