Posted on 06/29/2005 11:23:10 AM PDT by rockthecasbah
For decades, politicians and environmentalists have fought to keep oil and gas rigs away from Florida's sparkling Gulf of Mexico waters.
But their line of defense is growing weaker as the U.S. Senate considers a bill on Tuesday allowing an inventory of oil and gas reserves in the gulf.
The Senate action, part of a larger energy package, is the strongest message yet that skyrocketing oil prices and frenetic global competition for energy resources is beginning to trump one state's quest to keep domestic exploration away from its shores.
"The big-picture politics have changed," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of the environmental group Florida PIRG. "We're seeing the most aggressive and vociferous attacks on Florida's coast by the industry and their allies in Congress that we've seen in many years."
Joe Murphy, coastal expert for the Sierra Club in Florida, said this year marks the biggest threat of large-scale drilling off Florida's coast in the past 20 to 25 years. "The industry smells the blood in the water."
My cousin works for an oil exploration company who is contracted to find oil for such companies as Shell and BP, and he's been doing a lot of work offshore in the Gulf for quite a while.
He told me last summer that they had a huge find. He couldnt give any details, but he said it was "upward of 2 billion barrels." Their average find is 150-200 million, he told me. That's big. Of course, it'll take a while to develop, but still, good news nonetheless.
Can anyone remember the last significant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?
Good to see some Senators finally finding their minds.
I happen to own real estate on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida. I am not opposed to offshore drilling. The safety record has been excellent, most rigs are not visible from the shoreline, and we certainly need the oil. Nelson has always been a putz and Martinez has been a huge disappointment. He was a weak candidate and is an even weaker senator.
I can remember my dad telling of driving to Tyndall after being overseas in Enewetak.
He said he’s driving along and every now and then on Hwy 98 you see signs that say “world’s most beautiful beaches.” He said he looked and drove and drove and looked for the longest time. Finally he realized that *these* are supposedly the worlds most beautiful beaches. Ha.
You might be referring to Shell's "Great White" discovery in AC Block 857. Due south of Houston and south and east of Corpus Christi. 8,000 water depth. The discovery well was drilled 19,907 feet into complexly faulted anticline and is estimated to contain half a billion barrels of oil.
Further to the east, BP has logged an apparent discovery at its "Das Bump" prospect. The details are being tight holed.
Thanks for the info, good to know! But I dont think that's the one my cousin was talking about. The details regarding the location and magnitude of the find still havent been released yet (about a year later); all he's allowed to say is "at least 2 billion barrels."
If we invest big in the Gulf RIGHT NOW we could start to see some significant reduction in dependence on Middle Eastern sources in the next 5-10 years. Not to mention it would be good for my business (oil facility construction firm (among other things), largest private firm in the world).
About time.
Where in the Gulf is there 8,000 ft deep water? Or do you mean well depth?
If its "at least 2 billion barrels" then I'm not surprised they are tightholing the information. That is a monster find.
On another note, in February, ExxonMobil commenced drilling its West Blackbeard (gotta' love these names) prospect on South Timnbaler 168. The well is expected to take a year to go to total depth and is scheduled to go to 32,000 & possibly deeper. Dry hole cost is estimated at $100 million! Now that's rolling the dice.
However, the exploratory success rate on deep water wildcat wells in Gulf is over 50%. Not bad when you consider the size of the finds.
No I mean water depth. That's what's been reported.
I think these discoveries are located in the ultra-deep waters in the sourthern half of the "Alaminos Canyon." The Shell discovery was drilled in AC Block 857, if that means anything to you. The water depth was reported at 8,000 feet.
$100 million. Doesnt surprise me one bit.
Compare that to the cost it takes to drill a few hundred feet through the sand in the Middle East...I recall reading an article that stated that the typical well in the Middle East only has to go down something like 400-700 feet. No wonder our companies are hesitant to explore!
The Persian Gulf has the lowest finding & lifting costs in the world by a long shot. Geologically it is the most attractive province in the world. Excellent reservoir quality rocks at shallow depths with plenty of sourcing.
BTW, the U.S. companies found virtually all of the major deposits in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. companies developed their infrastructure and created all of their wealth. That is to say, were it not for the US, the House of Saud would still be residing in a tent.
Despite the fact that the European oil companies have been active in Libya for the past two decades, the Libyans are bending over backwards to get the US companies back in. The European companies don't hold a candle to the US oil industry.
"The European companies don't hold a candle to the US oil industry."
You can say that again!
My current project is in Algeria (though I'm not!). Really nice guys. It's weird hearing Arabs speaking French. =P
Hoping to score a big discovery in Indonesia - East Kalimantan or Iryan Jaya. If and when that happens, we'll call you to bid on our facilities construction. Good luck with Algeria.
We shouldn't invest in developing all those resources and then let China buy them like they want to do with Unocal.
I guess I better bone up on this stuff. Quite a feat to drill at that depth. Of course computers and GPS help alot.
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