Deep water wells of mexico

In recent years, production from deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico has been increasing rapidly, with deepwater wells now accounting for about two-thirds of total U.S. Gulf output.

Large fields include ExxonMobil's $1.1 billion Hoover-Diana development (which started up in May 2000 and was producing 80,000 bbl/d by 2002), plus: 1) BP's $2.5 billion Atlantis project, scheduled to come online in the third quarter of 2006, with 150,000 bbl/d of peak Oil production capacity; 2) BP's 1-billion-Barrel Thunder Horse (previously "Crazy Horse") field, the largest single field ever discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, which came online in January 2005, with peak oil output of 250,000 bbl/d expected; 3) Crosby (developed by Shell, came online in late 2001, peak output of 60,000 bbl/d); 4) Holstein (BP; online in 2004); 5) King (BP); 6) King's Peak (BP); 7) Mad Dog (BHP Billiton; online in early 2005); 8) Marlin (BP); and 9) Nakika (Shell and BP; first production in December 2003; ramping up to 110,000 bbl/d) fields.

For its part, BP has stated that it plans to accelerate its deepwater Gulf of Mexico production plans, including the planned $1 billion "Mardi Gras" deep-sea Pipeline system, designed to transport more than 1 million bbl/d of oil.

In June 2003, Unocal announced its intentions to build a $500 million deepwater Crude Oil port, the Bulk Oil Offshore Transfer System (BOOTS) in the Gulf of Mexico 100 miles south of Beaumont, TX. The BOOTS system would have a capacity of 1.2 million bbl/d, and would be linked to refineries in Houston/Texas City, Beaumont/Port Arthur, and Lake Charles.

As of October 2004, however, Unocal had placed BOOTS development on hold "pending receipt of sufficient volume commitments from crude oil import shippers."

According to Baker Hughes Inc ., which has tallied weekly U.S. drilling activity since 1940, domestic oil and Natural Gas drilling rebounded sharply from the low point of 488 reached in late April 1999, following the oil price collapse of late 1997. In mid-2001, for instance, the U.S. weekly "rig count" approached the 1,300 mark.

After that, the U.S. "rig count" fell, reaching 843 as of mid-October 2002, before rising once again, reaching 1,479 during the week ending November 11, 2005. As of November 11, natural gas rigs outnumbered oil rigs in the United States more than five-fold (1,232 to 241).

Historically, U.S. drilling activity peaked in 1981, with a total of 91,553 wells (43,598 oil, 20,166 natural gas, 27,789 dry wells) drilled in that year. For 2004, a total of 33,813 wells (22,673 natural gas wells, 7,167 oil wells, and 3,973 dry wells) were drilled in the United States, up from the low point of 18,465 total wells drilled in 1999, and also up sharply from the 25,744 wells drilled in 2002. During January-September 2005, total U.S. oil and natural gas wells drilled were up 21 percent from the same period in 2004.
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