BP Doubles Oil Estimate From Gulf of Mexico’s Mad Dog Field

BP Plc (BP/) more than doubled the estimated oil resources at the Mad Dog field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following results from an appraisal well drilled in the northern section of the deposit.

The field may hold as much as 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the London-based company said today in a statement. The BP-operated field was initially thought to have more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place, according to BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), its partner in the project.

“Mad Dog has been firmly established as a giant field in BP’s Gulf of Mexico portfolio, rivaling Thunder Horse in size of resource,” BP’s Chief Executive Officer Robert Dudley said in the statement.

BP’s Thunder Horse is the largest deepwater producing unit in the world, floating about a mile above the ocean floor. It has capacity to process 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas a day, according to BP.

The appraisal well drilled by BHP in a previously untested northern section confirmed a “significant” resource extension, BP said.

The partners, which also include Chevron Corp. (CVX), have been accelerating plans to double production from Mad Dog, which pumped its first crude oil and natural gas in 2005. This week, Chevron announced the Moccasin discovery in the deepwater Gulf, where BP is also a partner.

“Coupled with the recent exploration success at the discovery at the Moccasin prospect, located in Keathley Canyon, the Mad Dog result re-emphasizes the exploration and development potential of the Gulf of Mexico,” Dudley said.

Last year, BHP indicated that Mad Dog may hold an additional 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources. The field’s current facility is designed to process 100,000 barrels of oil and 60 million cubic feet of gas a day, according to BP’s website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at egismatullin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net