Atlantis (GC743) - BP

Location and Field Details

• The Atlantis oil and gas field is located approximately 240 kilometers south of New Orleans in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, within the south-eastern Green Canyon protraction area.
• The field spans across several blocks, including Green Canyon 699, 700, 742, 743, and 744, with water depths ranging between 4,400 feet and 7,100 feet.

Ownership and Operation

• The Atlantis field is operated by BP, which holds a 56% ownership interest. The remaining 44% is owned by Woodside, following its merger with BHP Petroleum in June 2022.

Platform and Infrastructure

• The Atlantis platform is a semi-submersible, integrated production facility and was the deepest-moored floating dual oil and gas production facility in the world at the time of its installation.
• The platform's hull was built in Okpo, South Korea, and the topsides modules were fabricated by Ray McDermott in Morgan City, Louisiana. The integration of these components took place at Ingleside, Texas.
• The topsides layout consists of three production/utilities modules with a total lift weight of 14,125 tons. The main deck measures 403 feet by 294 feet, and the hull has a displacement of 88,826 tons with a normal draft of 85 feet. The platform is moored using a hydraulic linear chain jack mooring system.
• The production quarters are supported by a separate dedicated mobile offshore drilling unit, and the field development includes a network of wet-tree subsea wells, with potential for more than 18 wells to be tied back to the Atlantis platform.

Production Capacity and History

• The Atlantis platform initially began producing oil in October 2007, with full commissioning and a ramp-up in production by mid-December 2007. It started with a daily production rate of around 10,000 barrels of oil and reached its production peak by the end of 2008.
• The current production capacity is 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 180 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Expansion and Development

• In January 2019, BP announced the $1.3 billion Atlantis Phase 3 expansion, which included the construction of a new subsea production system from eight new wells. This expansion was commissioned in August 2020 and increased production by 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
• Future plans include Atlantis Phase 4 and 5, which will involve the development of additional producing and water-injection wells, topside modifications, subsea multiphase pumping, and upgrades to water injection and water handling facilities.

Technological Advancements

• The Atlantis Phase 3 expansion was made possible by breakthroughs in advanced seismic imaging techniques, specifically Full Waveform Inversion (FWI), which allowed for the identification of an additional 400 million barrels of oil at the Atlantis field.

Safety and Regulatory Issues

• There have been concerns regarding the safety and operational documents of the Atlantis platform. A U.S. Department of Interior Inspector-General report raised doubts about the safety of the platform and its subsea equipment, highlighting that the platform's drawings violated applicable regulations. These issues were also highlighted by a whistleblower and led to legal actions by Earthjustice.

Contractors and Services

• Several contractors were involved in the project, including Ray McDermott for topsides fabrication, Duffy & McGovern for accommodation modules, Heerema Marine for mooring pile installation, and Project Consulting Services for engineering and project management.

Future Outlook

• BP plans to increase its production in the Gulf of Mexico to 400,000 boepd by mid-2025, with future projects at Atlantis and other fields such as Thunder Horse, Mad Dog, and Na Kika contributing to this growth.