Mars (oil platform)

Permanent offshore drilling and production tension-leg oil platform Mars Tension-leg Platform Mars Tension-leg Platform showing damage from Hurricane Katrina (2005) Mars is a permanent offshore drilling and production tension-leg oil platform (TLP) operating in Mississippi Canyon blocks 762, 763, 806, 807, 850 and 851 in the Gulf of Mexico and was approved by the MMS 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 and BP, with Shell owning the majority share and operating the facility. Mars is positioned in a water depth of 896 m (2940 ft) and is designed to produce 220,000 barrels (35,000 m3) of oil and 220 million cubic feet (6,200,000 m3) of gas 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 to the top of its tower. The Magnolia Tension-leg Platform has since surpassed the record set by Mars. Ten of the TLP develo