BP Boosts Oil Output from Gulf of America with Argos Expansion Start Up

(Credit: BP)

BP has started up the Argos Southwest Extension project in the U.S. Gulf of America, adding 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in production at the existing Argos platform.

Argos Southwest Extension is bp’s fifth major project start-up in 2025, in line with its strategy to grow the upstream business.

The Argos Southwest Extension project will add three wells and include a new drill center roughly five miles southwest of Argos.

The subsea tieback, which connects new wells to existing offshore production facilities through pipelines, will extend the footprint of the Mad Dog field discovered in 1998.

The project adds 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) of gross peak annualized average production at the existing Argos platform. Argos, which began production in 2023, is BP’s fifth operated production platform in the Gulf of America with a gross production capacity of up to 140,000 barrels of oil per day.

BP is Argos’ operator with 60.5% working interest, with co-owners include Woodside Energy (23.9%) and Union Oil Company of California, an affiliate of Chevron (15.6%).

“The Argos expansion underpins our commitment to investing in America, growing our U.S. offshore energy production safely and efficiently.

“This project also kicks off a period of significant growth for bp in the Gulf of America, which will continue to play a critical role in delivering secure and reliable energy the world needs today and tomorrow,” said Andy Krieger, bp’s senior vice president for the Gulf of America and Canada.

Following Argos Southwest Extension, BP plans to deliver two additional expansion projects in the Gulf of America by 2027.

The first is Atlantis Drill Center 1 Expansion, which will add around 15,000 boe/d of gross peak production, is expected to start up in 2026, while the second is Atlantis Major Facility Expansion, which will further increase production from the Atlantis field using existing infrastructure, is expected to start up in 2027.

Beyond expanding existing production hubs, BP is investing in Kaskida, its sixth platform in the Gulf of America that represents BP’s first step toward unlocking 10 billion barrels of discovered resources in the Paleogene, an oil-rich geological area about 250 miles southwest of New Orleans. Kaskida, which will have a production capacity of 80,000 barrels per day, is expected to start up in 2029.

The company is also is working toward reaching a final investment decision on its Tiber-Guadalupe project in 2025.