Mars is a permanent offshore drilling and production
tension-leg oil platform
An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
(TLP) operating in Mississippi Canyon blocks 762, 763, 806, 807, 850 and 851 in the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
and was approved by the
MMS MMS may refer to:
Science and technology Network communication protocols
* Multimedia Messaging Service for mobile phones
* Microsoft Media Server, a content-streaming protocol (mms://)
* Manufacturing Message Specification for real time proces ...
in December 1992 with production beginning on July 8, 1996.
The leases were acquired by Shell in 1985 and 1988. The platform is a joint venture between
Shell Oil Company
Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...
and
BP, with Shell owning the majority share and operating the facility.
[Shell Oil Company](_blank)
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Mars is positioned in a water depth of 896 m (2940 ft) and is designed to produce of oil and of gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
a day.
Development and production
In October 1993, Shell announced plans to develop Mars utilizing an in-house designed and engineered TLP. The TLP was installed three years later in May at a water depth of 2,940 feet, making it the deepest TLP at the time as measured from its base on the seabed
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'.
The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...
to the top of its tower.
Hurricane Katrina
In 2005, Mars was damaged when Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
hit the Gulf of Mexico but returned to production ahead of schedule in May 2006 and was producing slightly above its pre-Katrina rates in July 2006.
Among the first-ever accomplishments were, most notably, the lift of the 1,000 ton damaged rig substructure, the repairs to both of the Mars product export pipelines in 2,000 feet of water and the mooring of the Safe Scandinavia in 3,000 foot water depth.
See also
* Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico (United States)
* Olympus tension leg platform Olympus is a tension leg platform oil rig, planned as a further development of the Mars field (hence "Mars B").
Design
Olympus is a Tension Leg Platform, with 24 wells; added to Mars A, this means a combined 48 wells and more than per day of oil e ...
References
External links
Discussion board with pictures of platform
{{Shell oil
Energy infrastructure completed in 1996
Oil platforms off the United States
Petroleum industry in the Gulf of Mexico
Energy infrastructure in Louisiana
Shell plc buildings and structures
BP buildings and structures