HOUSTON — BP discovered a billion barrels of oil as well as two new oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.<br /><br />The British multinational oil and gas company found a billion barrels of oil at the offshore Thunder Horse oil field in the Gulf of Mexico using a new seismic imaging technique known as Full Waveform Inversion.<br /><br />Full Waveform Inversion uses advanced algorithms to create improved models of the Earth's subsurface by generating seismic wave simulations and comparing these with existing recorded data, BP explained in a press release in April of 2017.<br /><br />These models are used to create high-quality images of oil and gas reservoirs.<br /><br />The company also announced the approval of Atlantis Phase 3, a US$1.3 billion project that includes the construction of a new subsea production system located 150 miles south of New Orleans and covering roughly 2 kilometers.<br /><br />According to Tuesday's statement by BP, the company has expanded its production in the Gulf of Mexico by more than 60 percent.<br /><br />It aims to grow its production from 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day over the next decade.<br /><br />BP has been the biggest investor in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico for the past 10 years, the company said.
