BP Makes "Giant" Oil Find in Gulf of Mexico

[Smiling JOe]

BP Makes "Giant" Oil Find in Gulf of Mexico
by Tom Bergin
Tuesday, September 1, 2009


LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc said it has made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, which analysts believe could contain over 1 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, reaffirming the Gulf's strategic importance to the industry.


BP said in a statement on Wednesday that it had made the "giant" find at its Tiber Prospect in the Keathley Canyon block 102, by drilling one of the deepest wells ever sunk by the industry.


Further appraisal will be required to ascertain the size of volumes of oil present, but a spokesman said the find should be bigger than its Kaskida discovery which has over 3 billion barrels of oil in place.
Estimates of recoverable reserves range from around 20 percent of oil in place.


"Assuming reserves in place of 4 billion barrels and a 35 percent recovery rate, BP's proven reserves .. would rise by 868 million barrels -- equivalent to 4.8 percent of the group's 18.14 billion barrels of proven reserves," Aymeric De-Villaret, oil analyst at Societe Generale said in a research note.


BP, the biggest oil producer in the U.S. and biggest leaseholder in the Gulf of Mexico, has a 62 percent working interest in the block, while Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras owns 20 percent and U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips owns 18 percent....


(link to full story)




With this discovery, I bet we can see more drilling in the Gulf in coming years. Care to share your thoughts on how this could affect the environment, tourism and business in South Walton?

 

[John R]

wow, awesome find. GIANT - 41.97 days of US consumption, based on 2007 usage numbers. drill, baby, drill.

 

[Everytime]

With this discovery, I bet we can see more drilling in the Gulf in coming years. Care to share your thoughts on how this could affect the environment, tourism and business in South Walton?

I always have been, and remain, opposed to drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, which I think begins around Orange Beach, Alabama. In the past, I have written one of my Senators and my Congressman to express this. I appreciated the resistance of Jeb Bush and Scarborough to expansion of near-shore drilling (into the Eastern Gulf) several years ago when some of the Al, MS & LA governors, senators and congressman were trying to expand it and put in some pipeline from Mobile Bay.

I do not think it would be good for the local tourism economy nor for Eglin, Tyndal & McDill armament training and testing. Some people will point out that offshore rigs make good fishing spots, which they do, but I think the risk of putting more of these in the hurricane-infested warm Gulf waters outweighs the harm it could do to fishing, and for that matter marine life in whole, for the long term.

And I am conservative and I drive an SUV, but I think other options should be explored.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Does anyone know where "Keathley Canyon block 102" is located in the Gulf?

 

[DuneAHH]

Does anyone know where "Keathley Canyon block 102" is located in the Gulf?

250 miles southeast of Houston (according to Google).

 

[Smiling JOe]

I saw the same in Wikipedia, but that doesn't tell me much. That would probably be somewhere below SoWal, I think, as is much of the Gulf.

 

[Everytime]

According to the Google Earth maps search for Keathley Canyon, it is due south of the midpoint between Beaumont, TX and Lake Charles, LA. If they're going to expand drilling in the Gulf, do it ever there. Most of the muck will stay over there due to the Mississippi River and Mobil Bay.

 

[Russ&Kimberly]

I worked on an offshore research vessel about 15 years ago. I was the computer guy for my boat. We were a part of a fleet of vessels that laid cable on the bottom of the ocean and created a 4D map of the ocean floor. We mostly worked offshore in LA or TX. There is tons of that going on out there every day, 24 hours a day. It is really nothing new. If you have never been on a boat off the coast of LA, then you probably would not believe all the stuff going on. There are boats, ships, and structures (production platforms, rigs, well heads, etc) everywhere. It looks like a city at night. That is not even counting the commercial fisherman.

This block is south of Cameron, LA which is just at the TX and LA border. It is in the normal oil field. It is not anywhere close to us. If you have have ever been to the beach in Cameron or Holly Beach then you will quickly see that you are not missing much. Holly Beach is nestled between Mud Lake and the muddy Gulf. There is a highway that runs between Cameron and Port Aurthur. It is much like 30A except it goes right along the waters edge. It is great for fishing and laying out on the rocks (that are there to keep the road from washing away). You can actually do a Google Maps street view of the area.

I am sure they would never turn our coast into something like that. Oil is LA and TX primary industry and tourism is ours. It just doesn't make sense to jeopardize our primary source of income.

 

[Smiling JOe]

russ, are all of those read and green lines on the map, pipelines to the rigs?

Today, tourism is Florida's industry, but if we had year round industry such as oil, it may overtake tourism. Who knows, but I rarely use the word, "never."

 

[Russ&Kimberly]

russ, are all of those read and green lines on the map, pipelines to the rigs?

Today, tourism is Florida's industry, but if we had year round industry such as oil, it may overtake tourism. Who knows, but I rarely use the word, "never."

It looks like the lines are pipelines and the dots are structures. There is so much stuff out there you would not believe it.

Here is another image that shows the platforms and how far east they go. The problem with this picture and most of the others that I can find is that it does not specify if it is a production platform, a drilling rig, drill ship, or pipe line connection or well head...