BP has announced it has added two drilling rigs to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, bringing its fleet to a company record of nine rigs.
One of the rigs is a new ultra-deepwater drillship known as the 'West Auriga' that is under long-term contract to BP from Seadrill. The vessel, capable of operating in up to 3,650 metres, has begun development drilling work at BP's Thunder Horse field.
The other is a reconstructed drilling rig on BP's Mad Dog oil and gas production platform. It replaces the original rig on the platform that was badly damaged and left inoperable by Hurricane Ike in 2008. With the new rig, the platform recently resumed development drilling at the massive Mad Dog field complex.
BP currently anticipates investing on average at least four billion dollars in the Gulf of Mexico each year for the next decade. The company plans to concentrate future activity and investment in the Gulf on growth opportunities around its four major operated production hubs – Thunder Horse, Na Kika, Atlantis and Mad Dog – and three non-operated production hubs – Mars, Ursa and Great White – in the deepwater, as well as on significant exploration and appraisal opportunities in the Paleogene and elsewhere.
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