[WebHubbleTelescope]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'T')he news reports today are saying that the project will be delayed until they figure out why the computer-controlled ballast system failed.

[merecat]

Some people say that by using HAARP it's possible to steer storms, just as Nikola Tesla predicted so many moons ago. So maybe Thunder Horse was an insurance job. Maybe we'll see alot more 'broken' rigs as oil depletes further.

[Cyrus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ome people say that by using HAARP it's possible to steer storms, just as Nikola Tesla predicted so many moons ago. So maybe Thunder Horse was an insurance job. Maybe we'll see alot more 'broken' rigs as oil depletes further.

[DantesPeak]

Pump it up: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')P's massive floating oil and gas platform, Thunder Horse, appeared close to its normal upright position Sunday as recovery crews continued pumping out flooded support pylons.

The 59,500-ton vessel, located in the Gulf of Mexico 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, had been leaning as much as 20 degrees since July 11. On Sunday, the company said it was listing just 5 degrees and that the deck had risen 46 feet above sea level.

[Leanan]

But they still don't know what caused the problem. It wasn't the computer controlled ballast system; apparently, that was turned off when the platform was evacuated. It wasn't Dennis; the 30 ft. waves Dennis produced in the area are well within design tolerances. It wasn't that winch dropped overboard; there's no visible damage to the structure.

[SuperNova]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('merecat', 'S')ome people say that by using HAARP it's possible to steer storms, just as Nikola Tesla predicted so many moons ago. So maybe Thunder Horse was an insurance job. Maybe we'll see alot more 'broken' rigs as oil depletes further.

[clv101]

The Thunder Horse platform is big! Here it is being moved into position on the Norwegian heavy transport ship Blue Marlin:


http://www.fiberbond.com/bp-thunderhorse.html

And for a sense of scale here's the USS Cole being recovered after it was attacked on the same transport ship (I guess it's been painted red since then):


http://www.dr-joe.com/cole/

And here's an image from earlier this month, it may be big but it's not immune to bad weather:

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3585898

[Specop_007]

Theres no way bad weather caused that. No other platform had a problem, and in fact I dont think any other platform in the world would have had a problem with the weather in the area that week.
There was some other cause to this list. As yet, unannounced. But they will have to tell us or the Coast Gaurd wont re-certify the seaworthiness of it.

[Specop_007]

You can find a hi res photo Here

Needless to say, they were LUCKY this time. If it had had the tie ons to the undersea wells in place it would have went under. The effects of losing this platform would be incalculable.
We should be thankful it didnt go under.

[DantesPeak]

Straight from the horse's, I mean BP's, mouth:

(Not available online.)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')LOYDS LIST
Copyright 2005 Informa Martime Trade and Transport
July 27, 2005

Storm steals BP's profits thunder

Martyn Wingrove

BP's growth strategy in the Gulf of Mexico took a pounding when Hurricane Dennis crashed through the region causing the Thunder Horse production platform, which could be pumping out 250,000 barrels of oil a day in 2006, to almost sink. The London-listed oil firm has stabilised the production semi-submersible and returned displacement to normal levels, but it is facing a six-month delay to first oil on one of the region's largest projects.

'We are clearly not going to start Thunder Horse until we have sorted out the recent incident,' said Lord Browne. 'While there has been no damage to the subsea parts we still need to examine the floating facility to see what damage it might have suffered.'

The platform was designed to be able to list at 25°, while flooding of the hull substructure and pontoons pulled the facility into a list of 20° after the hurricane.

[Specop_007]

"The platform was designed to be able to list at 25°, while flooding of the hull substructure and pontoons pulled the facility into a list of 20° after the hurricane."

Well, at least they successfully completed that test.

[Leanan]

If anyone's wondering about Thunder Horse...BP says it will go online "the second half of 2006."

From Bloomberg:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')P Plc, Europe's largest oil company, said a decline in oil and gas production worsened in the fourth quarter, with damage from hurricanes costing more than $900 million in profit at its Texas City refinery.

Output in the period was about 4.01 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, 2.2 percent less than the 4.1 million reported in the year-earlier period, London-based BP said today in a statement. Production fell 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, the first quarterly drop in two years.

The hurricanes hurt BP's output after Chief Executive Officer John Browne spent about $90 billion on acquisitions in the U.S. to build the country into the company's most important market. The storms set back the start of the Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf, now expected no sooner than July instead of last quarter. No date was given today for the Texas plant to resume processing.

``BP's lack of production is a global phenomenon,'' said Puru Saxena, chief executive of Puru Saxena Ltd. in Hong Kong, which manages $130 million for clients. ``The world's consuming a lot more oil and supplies are getting tighter. New output is going to take time to hit the market.''

[TT]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'I')f anyone's wondering about Thunder Horse...BP says it will go online "the second half of 2006."

[frankthetank]

F 'in thing starts pumping oil July 1st and a cat 5 takes it out the next day...wouldn't suprise me

[tsakach]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lora', 'I')t's also now a "fully-submersible" instead of a "semi-submersible".

[Leanan]

I kind of doubt it will be pumping oil in July. BP said "the second half of 2006," and the ever-optimistic financial press took that as "July 1, 2006." Analysts predicted when the problem occurred that Thunder Horse would be delayed by a year, which would mean maybe Nov.-Dec. 2006. Still no word on what went wrong. Obviously, it was a design issue, but BP is being very close-mouthed.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Leanan', 'I') kind of doubt it will be pumping oil in July. BP said "the second half of 2006," and the ever-optimistic financial press took that as "July 1, 2006." Analysts predicted when the problem occurred that Thunder Horse would be delayed by a year, which would mean maybe Nov.-Dec. 2006. Still no word on what went wrong. Obviously, it was a design issue, but BP is being very close-mouthed.

[Eddie_lomax]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('merecat', 'S')ome people say that by using HAARP it's possible to steer storms, just as Nikola Tesla predicted so many moons ago. So maybe Thunder Horse was an insurance job. Maybe we'll see alot more 'broken' rigs as oil depletes further.

[Leanan]

One of the oil guys over at The Oil Drum said yesterday that the problem with Thunder Horse was due to the valves of the ballast system. And also the anchor system. Design issues, I guess.

[mekrob]

I'm wondering this to find out the economics of GoM production. I've read (from BP's site), that the Thunderhorse is expected to have about 25 wells, and production will be about 200kpd, so roughly 8 kpd/well. Work this out and we find that with a hundred million dollar investment for each well, each well (in Thunderhorse) will make about 46 million a year. This definatley won't be the case for the entire region as this is a prett large field while most are much smaller. Does anyone have any figures for the question mentioned in the title?