*'That would boost U.S. current reserves by 50 percent.' **With finding such as these, isn't it worth getting rid of the ban on offshore drilling--everywhere? Something like this gives us another 5-10 years of not being completely energy dependent on foreign sources. Hell, if we didn't have that ban for the last 24 years, we would have found many large findings like this. Stupid dems. http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/09/05/chevron.gulf.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Chevron Corp. said Tuesday it had successfully drilled for oil in the Gulf of Mexico's deep waters and analysts said the find suggested there may be more oil in the region that provides a quarter of U.S. output. During the test at record depths and pressure, the Jack No. 2 well flowed at more than 6,000 barrels of crude per day, Chevron said. That puts it on a par with discoveries in exploration hotspots such as the waters off Angola. With U.S. oil output in decline, big new fields are increasingly rare and oil companies are widening their search to more difficult places. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, did not give an estimate of the field's reserves. The Wall Street Journal cited Chevron officials as estimating recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico could hold as much as 15 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves. That would boost U.S. current reserves by 50 percent. The region 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. "This region is proving quite prospective. Certainly the test well results are on the top end of most analysts' ranges," said Jason Kenney, an analyst at ING in London. Mike Wittner of investment bank Calyon cautioned that until the size of the field was known it was difficult to draw conclusions. "It seems to be a significant find and there is still life left in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, particularly as you move into ultra-deep water," he added. Chevron is the operator of the Jack prospect with a 50 percent working interest. Devon Energy and Statoil each own a 25 percent working interest. "The results of the Jack test allow Chevron and its co-owners to better understand the deliverability of the emerging lower tertiary trend, a trend where Chevron is the largest leaseholder," said Gary Luquette, Chevron's president, North America Exploration and Production. Chevron was not immediately available for further comment. Chevron first announced the discovery of the Jack prospect in September 2004. It is 270 miles southwest of New Orleans and 175 miles offshore. Chevron said the Jack well was completed and tested in 7,000 feet of water, and more than 20,000 feet under the sea floor, breaking Chevron's 2004 Tahiti well test record as the deepest successful well test in the Gulf of Mexico. The Jack No. 2 well was drilled to a total depth of 28,175 feet. More than half a dozen world records for test equipment pressure, depth, and duration in deepwater were set during the Jack well test, Chevron said. Chevron and its co-owners plan to drill an additional appraisal well in 2007. Chevron said it is the largest lease holder in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and is currently developing the $3.5 billion Tahiti project, scheduled to commence production in 2008.
I was reading about this yesterday. How many barrels of oil do we consume per day? 6000 would surely be a nice dent!
A lot more than that....lol. 19.6 million barrels per day. Offshore drilling gives us time to convert to other sources of energy...alteast that's my take on this. The sooner the better, but generally I see the best future for us is relatively high prices in oil, and high investment in alternatives. Things like this help us out in not being fully under the dictate of foreigners; while it helps us with a practical transfer of energy, not a foolish 'liberal' way.
The technology is fairly good now-a-days. The number could be ranging, but they're sure it's a significant amount of oil.
The U.S. consumes roughly 5.7 billion barrels of crude-oil in a year. The country's reserves currently are more than 29 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Since we don't use our oil purely, we'll be subservient to foreign powers within 10-15 years if we don't start drilling offshore and looking into alternatives. We'll definitely see huge investments in alternatives, but you got kick the dem in the nuts in order to get offshore drilling going again. It's as though they've been eager to put us in this situation.
What a vital find. I think the administration should establish much larger tax breaks for oil companies to invest in greater research for oil fields off the American coasts. With greater tax breaks and higher prices the oil companies could reinvest in Republican politics and help get a lot of lazy shiftless bigmouths great jobs where all they do is blow off hot air on talk radio and other sources by badmouthing everyone and everything that disagrees with them!!!!