The multinational oil and gas company, BP, has added two drilling rigs to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, bringing its fleet to a total of nine rigs, a company record.
The first rig, under long-term contract from Seadrill Ltd., is a new ultra-deepwater drillship called the West Auriga. It is able to operate in water up to 12, 000 feet and has started development drilling at BP’s Thunder Horse field.
The second rig is a reconstructed vessel on BP’s Mad Dog oil and gas production platform. The original rig it will be replacing was badly damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Now development drilling will be able to continue at this field complex.
BP is also working on several future development projects in the deepwater Gulf. In April 2013, it started the Atlantis North expansion, which is the first of seven additional wells to be tied to the existing Atlantis platform. As well, the company is planning a second phase of the Mad Dog field.