Posted on 09/05/2006 7:03:34 AM PDT by BenLurkin
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Tests of a deep-water well in the Gulf of Mexico could indicate a significant oil discovery, three companies announced Tuesday, in the first project to tap into a region that reportedly could boost U.S. oil and gas reserves by as much as 50 percent.
The Jack 2 well was drilled by U.S. oil company Chevron Corp., with partners Statoil ASA of Norway and Devon Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City.
"Test results are very encouraging and may indicate a significant discovery. The full magnitude of the field's potential is still being defined," Statoil said in a statement.
During the test, the Jack 2 well sustained a flow rate of more than 6,000 barrels of oil per day, Statoil said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the region where the well is located could become the nation's biggest new domestic source of oil since the discovery of Alaska's North Slope more than a generation ago.
The Journal said Chevron and Devon officials estimate that recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico's lower-tertiary formations hold up to 15 billion barrels' worth of oil and gas reserves, a total that would boost the nation's current reserves by 50 percent.
The well was drilled in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf, about 270 miles southwest of New Orleans and 175 miles off the coast. It followed up a discovery made by Chevron in 2004.
"This area is one of the new and promising deep-water areas in the Gulf of Mexico," said Oivind Reinertsen, senior vice president of Statoil's Gulf of Mexico assets in Houston.
"The Jack 2 well test data are encouraging and may form the basis of future development projects in Walker Ridge," he said.
In a separate statement, San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron said the well set a variety of records, including the deepest well successfully tested in the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron said it was drilled to a total depth of 28,175 feet in waters that are 7,000 feet deep.
Chevron has a 50 percent stake in the field, while Statoil and Devon own 25 percent each.
Lets see what this does to open interest numbers today...
Are there any caribou in the Gulf of Mexico? :)
Good news but I sure hope it doesn't slow the search for alternative fuels. I want to see the "jittery speculators" pay for their greed.
It's in international waters.
Cuba and China will drill it dry before our 'betters' will allow us to touch it.
No, but there's a little green fish that only swims in waters where oil can be found, and there's only a few hundred of these little fishies, and...
I'm sure the Democrats will find some way to block this. After all, we wouldn't want to see the price of gas dropping at the pumps.
last one there's a rotten egg........
Believe me, they have been. There were hundreds of bets on $75 crude that got clobbered over the last couple of weeks. Ditto gasoline contract hedgers.
Sniff, sniff, I smell rotten eggs. Oh, it's just the United States, last on the scene. Well behind China, Cuba and India.
6,000 bbls a day? Dang, that's like a Saudi well.
Thanks for the ping!
Well, that's one way to look at it, I guess.
But somebody has drilled to a TD of 28,000+ feet in 7000 feet of water, and the Jack 2 tested at 6000 barrels of crude per day.
Getting to 28,000 feet in deep water isn't exactly to be sneezed at, and it undoubtedly has taken considerable time.
Cuba and China will drill it dry before our 'betters' will allow us to touch it
Absolutely, "Right on!!"
It would not make any difference if this "find" was 1,000 miles of the tip of Florida/California or bumf*cked Egygpt, the environmental wackos and their enablers/supporters (of which there are legions) would somehow manage to obstruct and delay (for years) any possible drilling and establishing a new source of oil/gas which would help make us less dependent on our "allies"--Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, et al.
Regardless, I wish this article had been more specific as to the location of this potential new discovery.
Dang, that's an impressive test. I'd love to know what the cost of drilling it was. I'll bet it was well north of $50 million.
The law of the sea treaties probably put this off limits for everybody.
As Vanderbilt said, "What do I care about the law?"
Bumf*cked Egypt would get a pass...
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