'Major' Deep Offshore Oil Discovery Made in US Gulf of Mexico

Rigzone Website ^ | Andreas Exarheas

[Alas Babylon!]

Chevron Corporation announced Wednesday that a ‘major’ oil discovery has been made at the Ballymore prospect, located deep offshore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The Ballymore well reached a total measured depth of 29,194 feet and encountered more than 670 feet of net oil pay with ‘excellent’ reservoir and fluid characteristics, Chevron said in a statement on its website. A sidetrack well is currently being drilled to further assess the discovery, which is already deemed commercially viable.

“The Gulf of Mexico deepwater is an integral part of our company’s long-term strategy,” Jeff Shellebarger, president of Chevron North America Exploration and Production, said in a company statement.

“This discovery is an important addition to our portfolio, especially with its combination of size, quality and proximity to existing infrastructure,” he added.

Located approximately three miles from Chevron’s Blind Faith platform, the Ballymore prospect is situated in water depth of about 6,540 feet, 75 miles from the Louisiana coast, and covers four blocks in the Norphlet play.

Total, which acquired a 40 percent working interest in Ballymore as part of an exploration agreement with Chevron signed in September 2017, said it was thrilled to reveal its latest find.

[Magnum44]

Fossil fuels are not really from fossils

[HerrBlucher]

Oil was formed from the remains of animals plants, micro-organisms that lived millions of years ago in a marine environment. Over the years, the remains were covered by layers of mud and sand. Heat and pressure caused the remains turn into crude oil.

[KC_Lion]

YES!

Drill Baby, Drill!

[ealgeone]

Excellent question! Libs will say global warming. Bible says the world flooded.

[ealgeone]

Excellent question! Libs will say global warming. Bible says the world flooded.

[Texas Fossil]

My cousin owned a consulting firm in Lafayette.

He made a lot of money in New Orleans real estate after that.

Have not heard much from him in the past 10 years. He’s pretty private person. Very smart.

[Alas Babylon!]

Two things.

—OPEC cut production by 50 million barrels

—A growing US economy needing MORE

Also, there is still some lost capacity stateside due to Hurricane Harvey.

[central_va]

Oil is abiogenic in origin IMO. I know that makes me sound like a kook but there is no other explanation. How did oil get embedded NORTH of Alaska? Dinos lived in lush tree filled jungles. There were no jungle that far north in Pangaea.

[iontheball]

So we are finally following the Russians who abandoned “Peak Oil” and fossil derive oil years ago. So much for “Peak Oil.” Drill baby, drill DEEP baby. There's crude down there in the mantle.

[Milton Miteybad]

Earlier it was reported that the find was by a French company. Maybe Chevron is French owned?

One of the partners in the well, Total S.A., is a French concern. Chevron is the former Standard Oil of California.

[Revel]

Just bring the price of heating oil back down. Right now it is a killer.

[rktman]

Well, ya see, when the poles switch and the erf rotation reverses, ya just never know where on Pangea stuff will end up. No, really. Main cause is chem trails. No, really. 👹

[Reeses]

The squares you sometimes see out the airplane window are exactly 1 mile across. That well is about 6 of those squares straight down, and 1 square deep of water above that. It's amazing technology that they can drill it. The temperatures and pressures must be extreme. The oil should blast itself right out. How did a 600 foot deep lake of dead algae get down there in the first place?

[Glad2bnuts]

Oil is a product of the Earths geology.

[wally_bert]

Seeing gasoline under $2.00 would be great.

[eddie willers]

Democrats and Sheiks sad.

[Fedora]

The French company is Total, mentioned towards the bottom of the excerpt as having a 40% interest.

[Kickass Conservative]

Wow, look at all those Houses the Farmers grew.

Simply amazing.

[Reeses]

Oil is abiogenic in origin IMO. I know that makes me sound like a kook but there is no other explanation.

Crude oil is filled with molecular fossils of dead things. Shouldn't that end the debate? Coal seams have tree and plant imprints.

[PAR35]

There’s lots of oil out there, but what numbers are required to make it economically viable? There are guys in west Texas that can make money at $40, and they are sitting pretty these days in the mid-60s. But it takes a lot of time and money to get the deep offshore stuff to the market.