BP books TechnipFMC on multimillion-dollar job at its first 20K tech oil project

UK-based energy heavyweight BP has picked a compatriot energy technology provider TechnipFMC for work at its sixth-operated deepwater project in a prolific high-margin basin within the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Thanks to a contract with a value between $250 million and $500 million, TechnipFMC will handle an integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (iEPCI) contract for BP’s greenfield Kaskida development in the Gulf of Mexico, lending the oil major a helping hand in unlocking the potential to bring online 10 billion barrels of discovered resources in place.

The deal covers the design and manufacture of subsea production systems, including 20,000 psi (20K) standardized subsea trees and manifolds. In addition, the scope includes the design, manufacture, and installation of subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines. This award follows an integrated front end engineering and design (iFEED) study that the UK firm carried out for BP.

Jonathan Landes, President of Subsea for TechnipFMC, commented: “Our innovative high-pressure solutions are key to helping unlock the most economically attractive opportunities in the Paleogene. Kaskida is our latest iEPCI project with BP and is emblematic of our longstanding collaboration. Through early engagement, we’re leveraging the breadth of our technological and integration capabilities to help BP successfully deliver Kaskida.”

After employing Audubon Engineering and Exmar Offshore to handle the engineering and design of the topside and hull for the floating production unit (FPU) for the recently sanctioned Kaskida development, BP handpicked ABS to support the deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico by providing classification and engineering verification services for the new semi-submersible production unit.

The engineering work for the Kaskida FPU is already ongoing, with Audubon embarking on designing the topside and Exmar Offshore handling the hull. Singapore’s Seatrium was selected to undertake early engineering works for the newbuild FPU.

The production from the FPU with the capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day is slated to start in 2029, encompassing six wells in the first phase. The Kaskida project’s discovered recoverable resources are estimated at around 275 million barrels of oil equivalent from the initial phase.

Located about 250 miles southwest off the coast of New Orleans, the 100% BP-owned deepwater project in the Keathley Canyon area is said to unleash the potential future development of 10 billion barrels of discovered resources in place across the Kaskida and Tiber catchment areas.

The UK oil major has confirmed that Kaskida will be its first development in the Gulf of Mexico to produce from reservoirs requiring well equipment with a pressure rating of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. The deal with TechnipFMC comes days after Enbridge won a $700 million contract for crude oil and natural gas pipelines at the Kaskida project.

BP produced around 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Gulf of Mexico portfolio in 2023, which includes hydrocarbons from five operated platforms, encompassing Argos, Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika, and Thunder Horse.

Since the discovery of the Kaskida field in 2006 the firm has worked closely with the offshore industry to help develop 20K rig technology necessary to complete high-pressure wells. The advancements in 20K technology also recently enabled Chevron and TotalEnergies to bring online an oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico, which is seen as the industry’s first high-pressure deepwater development.

Deemed as one of the largest projects in the U.S. energy industry’s history, it employs high-pressure 20,000 psi technology with reservoir depths reaching 34,000 feet below sea level.

TechnipFMC has secured multiple new projects, including two subsea assignments with Brazil’s Petrobras, allowing it to work on three offshore oil fields in the Brazilian pre-salt area.