BP's says its Thunder Horse platform should begin production sometime in the summer of 2006. The Thunder Horse field is located in Mississippi Canyon block 778 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 150 miles southeast of New Orleans.

"Thunder Horse is fine. The problem is, of course, the weather has been so bad we can't connect it up to the wells on the seabed," BP Chief Executive John Browne told reporters after speaking at the Brookings Institute.

"We do expect to do this next year, and we expect it to be on stream in the second half of next year, probably in the earlier part of the second half," he said. Production had been scheduled to start at the end of 2005; however, damage caused by Hurricane Dennis pushed the start time back about six months. When the platform comes on stream and reaches full capacity it is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day.