NorthAmOil: BP starts oil production at Argos platform in the US Gulf of Mexico

BP has started oil production at the deepwater Argos platform in the US Gulf of Mexico. Argos is the fifth platform operated by the London-based supermajor in the Gulf of Mexico, and its first new greenfield platform in the region since 2008. 

Argos had been due to start production in 2022, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie in January 2022. “Commissioning delays” had since been cited in media reports.  

Argos’ semi-submersible platform has a gross production capacity of up to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, said BP, a leading producer in the Gulf. BP said it expects to ramp up production from Argos, located in Green Canyon Block 780, throughout 2023.

Argos will increase BP’s gross operated production capacity in the Gulf by an estimated 20%. Argos is key to its strategy of increasing Gulf of Mexico production to around 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by the middle of this decade.

“The start-up of Argos is a fantastic achievement that helps deliver our integrated energy strategy – investing in today’s energy system and, at the same time, investing in the energy transition,” said BP’s CEO, Bernard Looney.  “As BP’s most digital facility worldwide, applying our latest technologies, Argos will strengthen our key position in the Gulf of Mexico for years to come.”

Argos is the "centrepiece " of BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 (MDP2) project, and it extends the life of the super-giant Mad Dog oilfield discovered in 1998, said the oil company. The Argos platform is moored around 10 km south-west of the original Mad Dog platform. The entire Mad Dog field has gross estimated reserves of 200-450mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

Operating in 1,372 metres of water about 306 km south of New Orleans, Argos will support 250 permanent jobs, said BP. The platform stands 27 stories tall, with a deck the length and width of an American football field. It weighs more than 54,431 tonnes.