Posted on 11/13/2022 6:52:37 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Over the past five years, the United States’ largest independent oil and gas company, Exxon Mobil, has mostly focused its exploratory activities in South America.
Last month, the oil major announced that it had made two new discoveries at the Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 wells in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, potentially adding more barrels to one of the most closely watched new oil discoveries. ExxonMobil has now made more than 30 discoveries on the block since 2015, and has ramped up offshore development and production at a pace that far exceeds the industry average.
In contrast, Exxon’s exploits in Africa have been few and far between, with its last discovery on the continent coming nearly two decades ago. But Exxon has now announced that it has, together with its partners, discovered hydrocarbons in Block 15 off Angola in the Bavuca South prospect. This was the block’s 18th discovery, but the first since 2003. According to Exxon, the Valaris DS-9 drillship drilled the Bavuca South-1 well 365 km northwest from the coast at Luanda in 1,100 m (3,608 ft) of water, encountering 30 m (98 ft) of good-quality, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone. Exxon owns 36% interest in the block, with BP Exploration Angola (24%), ENI Angola Exploration (18%), Equinor Angola Block 15 (12%) and Sonangol P&P (10%) being its partners.
The last big fossil fuel discovery on the continent dates back to 2010 after Texas-based Anadarko Corp. (now a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp.) and Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A. discovered approximately 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, equivalent to ~29 billion barrels of oil, in Mozambique’s supergiant offshore basin of Rovuma, immediately catapulting the South African nation to a potential global LNG superpower.
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
Smart to look in African waters. They want energy income and supply there and say they should get to “catch up” with all the countries that went before them. I say let them have at it, the more the merrier.
Understand the numbers. 180 trillion cubic feet is claimed. There is usually less than initial claims.
But more important, understand the number. That’s about 5 Trillion Cubic Meters, which is how the big boys measure.
Russia natgas reserves are 38 Trillion, discovered, there will be more undiscovered, huge surface area. Iran is about 32. Quatar 25. Turkmenistan 14.
The lowly US is 12, consuming far faster than Russia, Iran or Qatar. US consumption (output) 0.95 Trillion cubic meters/yr (yes, that means about 14 yrs). Russia 0.7 Trillion/yr, so 50ish years. Iran 0.25 Trillion/yr. Qatar 0.177 Trillion/yr.
Behold, why we are going to lose.
Oil is almost everywhere if you drill deep enough, except perhaps the places where they have pumped it all out.
We have only drilled a few miles into the Earth, and only in part of the overall surface area. The USA has enough oil and natural gas to be energy independent for hundreds of years (and that is just the oil and natural gas that we know about). It is not fossil fuel, it is hydrocarbons. There are oceans of hydrocarbons on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. I doubt that ancient dinosaurs and savannah were part of these moons.
Hundreds of years from now they will look upon the idiocy of NOT drilling and shake their heads. Later, when the great cold returns, and miles of ice comes down from Canada, we will adapt. I have educated a few liberals that not very long ago Chicago and New York were under a mile of ice. When I explain that the cold and ice will return, and we can do nothing to stop it, just adapt, a few liberals wake up.
I also imagine the future Comedy Channel during the next Ice Age. They will have DVDs of AlGore and company ‘only XXX years to stop the warming’ and the Laugh Meter will be off the scale.
A bit of an FYI, the deeper you drill, the hotter it gets. Heat turns hydrocarbons into their simplest chain, CH4. Nat gas. Oil pushed down deep enough becomes gas.
So . . . drilling deeper does not find you more oil.
Too bad it’s too late and we’re gonna power the world with solar and wind now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.