bp issues FID for Tiber-Guadalupe project

bp has reached a final investment decision on its Tiber-Guadalupe field development project, planned for the Keathley Canyon area in what it describes as the “Gulf of America.”

In so doing, the company has approved its second development in the region that will produce hydrocarbons from reservoirs in the Paleogene, under pressures of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch (20K).

The Tiber oil field, located at a water depth of approximately 4,130 feet (1,260 m), was originally discovered by bp in 2009. bp says that it has since worked closely with the offshore industry to help develop the 20K technology necessary to complete high-pressure wells. This 20K equipment – such as larger drilling rigs, subsea equipment and thicker metal casing – will be independently verified and approved to safely manage these wells.

The 100% bp-owned Tiber-Guadalupe field will be bp’s seventh operated oil and gas production hub in the Gulf, and will feature a new floating production platform with the capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The project includes six wells in the Tiber field and a two-well tieback from the Guadalupe field. Production is expected to start in 2030.

Andy Krieger, bp’s senior vice president, Gulf of America and Canada, said: “Our decision to move forward on the Tiber-Guadalupe project is a testament to our commitment to continue investing in the Gulf of America and expand our energy production from one of the premier basins in the world. Along with its sister project Kaskida, Tiber-Guadalupe will play a critical role in bp’s focus on delivering secure and reliable energy the world needs today and tomorrow.”

The Tiber and Guadalupe fields are estimated to have recoverable resources of around 350 million barrels of oil equivalent from the initial phase. Additional wells could be drilled in future phases, subject to further evaluation.

bp says that the estimated $5-billion Tiber-Guadalupe project is “fully accommodated” within its “disciplined financial framework.”  

Together with its 100% bp-owned Kaskida project, bp expects to invest around $10 billion to deliver its Gulf of America Paleogene projects.

bp further noted that the Tiber-Guadalupe and Kaskida projects will be “centerpieces” of its newbuild projects in the “deepwater Gulf of America.”

Along with the five existing operating platforms in the Gulf, these two new projects will enable bp to boost its capacity to produce more than 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the US offshore region by 2030.

bp also said that it is leveraging existing platform and subsea equipment designs to drive cost efficiencies across the Tiber-Guadalupe production hub’s construction, commissioning and operations. Tiber project development costs are anticipated to be around $3 per barrel lower than the Kaskida project, including synergies from using more than 85% of the design from bp’s Kaskida project.