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Wildcatter Moffett adds to legend with new discovery [major NG find]
chron.com ^ | 3-17-10 | Brett Clanton

Posted on 03/18/2010 1:03:54 PM PDT by smokingfrog

James R. “Jim Bob” Moffett could have retired years ago with his legend fully intact. Today, however, in the twilight of a long, storied and sometimes controversial career, the 71-year-old oil and mining executive is taking what amounts to a victory lap.

Moffett, co-chairman of New Orleans' McMoRan Exploration Co., is riding high again after the recent discovery of a major natural gas field in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, touted as the biggest there in decades.

Called Davy Jones, the discovery is significant for more than its size: It is in an ancient layer of sediment buried at a depth few in industry have ever drilled. As such, it could herald a new frontier for oil and gas development in the heavily explored offshore region.

“Nobody thought we'd be sitting here with this kind of opportunity,” Moffett recently told a group of geologists in Houston, during a technical presentation — liberally sprinkled with “damns” and “dadgums” — that showed off both his acumen as a geologist and his salty wit.

Confirming Davy Jones' potential will require further tests, and huge technical challenges remain in extracting gas from

formations more than five miles below the sea floor, where pressures and temperatures are extreme. But Moffett, true to form, said he is undeterred.

“I've never met a good wildcatter who quits,” he said.

Such bravado, once a hallmark of the oil business, is rare today. Oil and gas companies now pride themselves more on avoiding risk than courting it, and generally prefer to let their financial results do the bragging.

Moffett, however, has achieved something like folk hero status in the Oil Patch for doing the opposite — and backing it up by succeeding.

“He's known as a risk-taker, out of the old wildcatters' mold,”

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: energy; gom; naturalgas
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1 posted on 03/18/2010 1:03:54 PM PDT by smokingfrog
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To: smokingfrog

Maybe Bammy can figger out a way to sell it to the Cuban cartel? Let them “DRINK OUR MILKSHAKE”


2 posted on 03/18/2010 1:06:17 PM PDT by jessduntno (A third party has risen; we have the Republicans, the Tea Party and the Deemocrats.)
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To: smokingfrog

This find of oil five miles down definitely supports the abiotic theory of oil formation.


3 posted on 03/18/2010 1:06:30 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
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To: smokingfrog
Of course the Ascended One and his minions will never allow the find to be exploited by Americans. Maybe the rights to drill and extract can be sold to the Russians or Chinese.
4 posted on 03/18/2010 1:07:15 PM PDT by buckalfa (confused and bewildered)
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To: smokingfrog
Lot's of energy left if you're willing and allowed to look for it.
5 posted on 03/18/2010 1:07:36 PM PDT by Recon Dad ( USMC SSgt Patrick O - 3rd Afghanistan Deployment - Day 149)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Looks like a natural gas, not oil find. Oxy announced last year one of the largest NG finds ever in Kern county, CA.


6 posted on 03/18/2010 1:08:42 PM PDT by edcoil (If I had 1 cent for every dollar the government saved, Bill Gates and I would be friends.)
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To: thackney

Ping.


7 posted on 03/18/2010 1:11:08 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Far too deep for oil; it’s gas.

Oil at that depth (and temperature) would turn to powder.


8 posted on 03/18/2010 1:13:24 PM PDT by Jewbacca (The residents of Iroquois territory may not determine whether Jews may live in Jerusalem.)
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To: edcoil

Oil is a hydrocarbon as well as NG.


9 posted on 03/18/2010 1:18:19 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Do you understand this I still sedimentary rock at that level?


10 posted on 03/18/2010 1:20:52 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: smokingfrog

The liberals are only alive and have food on the table due to the efforts of the real producers like this man and his company. Like this man who supplies their heating and cooking gas.


11 posted on 03/18/2010 1:20:52 PM PDT by dennisw (It all comes 'round again --Fairport)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Yes, I am aware and a majority of the time you will find both other. In this case and this shallow he found a large NG field.


12 posted on 03/18/2010 1:22:53 PM PDT by edcoil (If I had 1 cent for every dollar the government saved, Bill Gates and I would be friends.)
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To: Army Air Corps

It would be interesting to be part of the design team for the production facilities.

This field is 400 degrees F and 25,000 psi. Lots of challenges in the materials to be used.


13 posted on 03/18/2010 1:28:59 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: smokingfrog

This is what the USA is supposed to be all about dadgumit ! Right on !


14 posted on 03/18/2010 1:31:00 PM PDT by major-pelham
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To: Jewbacca
NEW YORK - Nearly 7 miles below the Gulf of Mexico, oil company British Petroleum Co. Ltd. has tapped into a vast pool of crude after digging the deepest oil well in the world.

The Tiber Prospect is expected to rank among the largest petroleum discoveries in the United States, potentially producing half as much crude in a day as Alaska's famous North Slope oil field.

The company's chief of exploration on Wednesday estimated that the Tiber deposit holds between 4 billion and 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That would be enough to satisfy U.S. demand for nearly one year.
“The Gulf of Mexico is proving to be a growing oil province, and a profitable one if you can find the reserves,” said Tyler Priest, professor and director of Global Studies at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.

The Tiber well is about 250 miles southeast of Houston in U.S. waters. At 35,055 feet, it is as deep as Mount Everest is tall, not including more than 4,000 feet of water above it.

Jewbacca, how are things haven't heard from you lately?

15 posted on 03/18/2010 1:34:40 PM PDT by Recon Dad ( USMC SSgt Patrick O - 3rd Afghanistan Deployment - Day 149)
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To: thackney

No joke!

Most of my family is in the petrochemical industry and they love these kinds of technical challenges.


16 posted on 03/18/2010 1:49:17 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: smokingfrog

regarding the Lousiana oil patch, I recently visited Avery Island, home of the McIlhenny family and Tabasco sauce.

The old man, the patriarch, bought the island to raise peppers and make sauce. He developed a fabulous brand and business. At some point he discovered that the underground was salt and he began mining salt. Later he learned that salt domes sit over oil. he (or perhaps a grandson) drilled oil wells. People wanted to come see Tabasco being made and marveled at the beauty of the live oaks and Spanish Moss. He developed Jungle Land Park for the tourists. All this is on an island separated from the mainland by a small stream. He naturally put up a gate and charges a toll to come on the island.

Moral....exploit your assets


17 posted on 03/18/2010 1:50:28 PM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Tax the poor. Taxes will give them a stake in society)
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To: Army Air Corps

At those pressures, a ruptured vessel might be placed in orbit.


18 posted on 03/18/2010 1:51:41 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney
This field is 400 degrees F and 25,000 psi. Lots of challenges in the materials to be used.

I would say more for the pressure than the temperature. Place I worked for built logging instruments for that pressure and temperature. Electronic stuff had trouble at those temps, but they managed to make them work.

When we built our pressure test facility (another place) we made the working pressure 30,000 psi because logging tool manufacturers were calling for testing at that pressure.

Very few applicable metals lose much of their strength at 400 F. But elastomers for seals don't like it, and require changing much more frequently than otherwise. Viton was the material of choice for the high temp / high pressure applications.

Anyway, way cool discovery ! Drill baby, drill !

19 posted on 03/18/2010 1:52:34 PM PDT by jimt
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To: thackney

Indeed. It would require some heavy duty gear.


20 posted on 03/18/2010 1:53:34 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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