The operator plans to help meet the world’s growing energy demand by pumping as much as 80% of its Capex into upstream operations.

Technology will be at the heart of meeting the demand, which is expected to jump 36% by 2030, creating a need for 16 MM b/d more oil than is needed today, according to Lamar McKay, BP’s upstream chief executive.

Speaking at a topical breakfast entitled ‘Unlocking the Future: BP’s Global Upstream’ at OTC, McKay said BP plans to drill as many as 25 new exploration wells per year as the company continues to acquire and interpret seismic data.

“By testing at least 10 new material conventional and unconventional opportunities every decade, we want to be able to add at least two more new significant producing areas over the next 10 years, each with multibillion barrel potential,” McKay said. “Worldwide, we have accessed acreage covering more than 150,000 sq miles since 2010. That’s an area roughly the size of California and twice as much as we acquired in the previous nine years.”

Areas holding promise include Brazil, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Australia, and the US, among others. However, BP is focused heavily on Angola, Azerbaijan, the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and the North Sea, areas that combined are expected to generate half of the company’s operating income by 2020, McKay said.

The company has slated more than 40 major upstream potential projects through the end of the decade. Eleven of these projects are backed by investments of more than $10 Bn each, according to McKay.

“Important as the traditional source countries are, the fact is we are searching for and finding hydrocarbons in new places and in new basins all over the world,” McKay said. “So the future opportunities are certainly there. But so are the challenges. Nothing counts as easy oil.”

Meeting the challenge will take a talented, diverse workforce with safety at the core. BP plans to triple its recruitment of engineering, science, and business graduates worldwide, with a goal of hiring approximately 1,000 annually by 2014, McKay said.

Fulfilling the world’s energy needs will call for regulatory structures that encourage investment as well as cutting-edge technology. For BP, this means undertaking major technology projects, some of which have become the industry norm.

EOR efforts

BP is also stepping up its enhanced oil recovery efforts, realising that discovery alone is not enough. These efforts include a focus on Designer Water technologies.

“The jewel in the crown of our Designer Water technologies is LoSal,” McKay continued. “Our scientists found that by lowering the salinity of the water used in reservoir displacement, some of the molecules binding the oil to the rock would release – improving recovery by as much as 5-10%, which is gigantic in some of these large fields.”

He used the North Sea’s Clair field, discovered in 1977, as an example of the company’s technology success. Complex geology was to blame for taking 28 years to reach first oil.

BP is gaining more knowledge on the reservoir and rock formation thanks to a permanent 4D seismic installation.

“This technology takes a time-lapsed seismic shoot over the same area, so it is possible to see fluid changes over time. The permanent array of seismic receivers on the seabed makes it both easier and cheaper to execute multiple shoots,” McKay said. “Last fall, we began the world’s first offshore deployment of LoSal, which could help us recover millions of more barrels.”

BP is also relying on technology to transform data into oil in the GoM at the deepwater Atlantis platform. “Last year, Atlantis completed an optimisation program, including improvements in the flow of data. This allows us to digitally track changes in reservoir behaviour, enabling our engineers and control systems to adjust almost instantaneously,” McKay said. “As a result, we expect this technology will help Atlantis produce as many as 3,000 additional barrels per day.”

BP plans to invest $4-$5 Bn annually in the GoM for the rest of the decade. It has seven deepwater rigs there now, with another planned by the end of the year. Recently, two new Atlantis wells have gone online and the Na Kika Phase 3 development is progressing, while BP also continues to re-evaluate its Mad Dog Phase 2 project “to most optimally develop the giant Miocene resources in that field,” McKay said.

“Just two decades ago, the deep water scarcely existed. Today, it would be impossible to imagine the oil and gas industry without it,” McKay said. “So there is every reason to feel optimistic. The geology is promising – and challenging. The technology is ever expanding.”