BP approves $5 billion Tiber Guadalupe project in US Gulf

British oil giant BP announced on Monday that it would move forward with a $5 Billion offshore drilling project called Tiber-Guadalupe in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. This marks another step in BP's new strategy to refocus its oil and gas core business.

The project is expected to start oil and gas production by 2030. It will include a floating platform that can produce 80,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

BP, which has been underperforming its rivals Shell and Exxon Mobil with increasing debt in recent years, announced in February that it would cut investment in renewable energies and increase oil and gas production in order to turn around the business and win investors back.

BP aims to produce at least 400,000 barrels equivalent of oil per day in the Gulf by 2030. This is up from 341,000 BOEPD last year.

BP stated that the new platform would develop the Tiber-Guadalupe field, located approximately 300 miles (480 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans. These fields are estimated to contain about 350,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, BP added. Tiber-Guadalupe is BP's second Gulf project to be able to produce at ultra-high pressures - 20,000 pounds per sq inch - a technological breakthrough.

The U.S. oil company Chevron was first to drill under pressure after its Anchor project in last year.

BP stated that the development costs of Tiber-Guadalupe will be $3 per barrel less than BP's Kaskida near-by project, after utilizing 85% of its design. Sheila Dang reported from Houston, and Nathan Crooks edited the story.

(source: Reuters)