BP Thunder Horse on the Dockwise Blue MarlinWhen built the Thunder Horse semi-submersible drilling and production facility was about 50 percent larger than the next largest floating semi-submersible rig in the world. It can process 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day – enough energy to provide for 6.5 million American homes. It cost around $5 billion.
The Thunder Horse area, which is 150 miles offshore of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, has the potential to produce approximately 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent over the life of the field, making it the largest discovery in the gulf to date.
The Blue Marlin is itself an amazing ship, transporting semi-subs around the world. It can ballast itself so that the central section is well under water, the semi-sub is then floated across it and the ballast pumped out to lift the rig clear of the water.
Picture added on 03 November 2006
Added by Duncan Murray on 17 November 2008.