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Geology News
Gulf of Mexico Current Events

McMoRan Exploration found 135 feet of hydrocarbon bearing sands at a depth of 28,263 feet below the Gulf of Mexico. They claim it could be one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf and the news sent their stock up by 50% in one day.

Chevron and other large oil companies are investing big money in deepwater projects: searching for oil in waters over 1,000 feet deep, which are typically far offshore and difficult to prospect. Some large reserves have been found in the Gulf of Mexico, and in waters off Ghana and Brazil. It is speculated that enormous reservoirs may be present in the Atlantic.

An interesting article on the CNN website explores property rights along the water’s edge – after beach reclaiming has been done. If the state pays for the sand used to reclaim do they own the beach or do you still own to the waterline?

In the 1990’s Congress gave oil and gas companies relief from certain Gulf of Mexico royalties in the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act. The Interior Department tried to collect, Anadarko Petroleum challenged, the Supreme Court declined the appeal.

Devon Energy reports that Chinese companies are interested in joint ventures with them on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas projects.

Scientists towing a net more than 1500 feet below the surface caught a 19.5 foot-long giant squid in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. This is the first giant squid seen in the Gulf since 1954.

By the end of 2011, Halliburton expects to have 46 more deepwater drilling rigs on duty to service projects in Brazil, West Africa, Pacific Asia and the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Exploration and Halliburton Deepwater set a new record for the greatest production from a well in the Gulf of Mexico. Their well produced 47,000 BOEPD compared to the previous record of 43,000 BOEPD.

Some oil industry experts believe that BP’s announcement of a “giant oil discovery” in the Gulf of Mexico may yield an increased interest in exploration in that basin, which many believed had been thoroughly explored.

BP announced what they call a “giant oil discovery” in one of the deepest wells ever drilled by the oil and gas industry (35,055 feet). The well was drilled in 4,132 feet of water at a location in the Gulf of Mexico about 250 miles southeast of Houston. The well found oil in multiple Lower Tertiary rock units.

So far this season there has been a low level of tropical storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean. The forecasters at Colorado State University have reduced their expected number of Atlantic hurricanes to just four.

Spring nutrient delivery to the northern Gulf of Mexico is among the highest measured by the U.S. Geological Survey in thirty years. Excessive nutrients can be harmful by decreasing the amount of oxygen in the water, also known as hypoxia. This can result in an area experiencing stress or death of near or bottom dwelling organisms called a hypoxic zone, or “dead zone.”

Rigzone has an article about the recent gas hydrates assessment done in the Gulf of Mexico.

From USGS: “The U.S. Gulf of Mexico contains very thick and concentrated gas-hydrate-bearing reservoir rocks which have the potential to produce gas using current technology. Recent drilling by a government and industry consortium confirm that the Gulf of Mexico is the first offshore area in the United States with enough information to identify gas hydrate energy resource targets with potential for gas production.”

Oil companies working in the Gulf of Mexico pay close attention to hurricanes. This hurricane season Shell and Chevron will be tweeting hurricane updates that call followers to detailed information posted on their websites.

A promising natural gas hydrate deposit has been found in the Gulf of Mexico. This deposit differs from others – it is in a sand reservoir which might make it producible by conventional methods.

An article on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute website explores seafloor oil seeps. The image below is from NASA’s Earth Observatory and shows slicks from natural seeps in the Gulf of Mexico.

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal describes how British Petroleum is using some of their deep water platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as central facilities for satellite fields which are twenty or more miles away.

A release from the Minerals Management Service…. “Gulf of Mexico oil production is forecasted to increase substantially over the next several years, possibly reaching 1.8 million barrels of oil per day. Gas production is forecasted to continue its decline over the next four years due to aging projects in shallow water.”

Sediment laden waters from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers roil the Gulf of Mexico in this satellite image from NASA’s Earth Observatory.

Last month the Department of Interior failed to honor exploration leases on Utah oil and gas parcels that were won in a December lease sale. Many natural resource companies spent a lot of time preparing to bid in that sale. On March 18th important Gulf of Mexico leases will be up for bid in another DOI sale. A lot more than oil and gas properties are at stake in this sale.

Oil spills caused by humans almost always make big headlines but did you know that natural seeps contribute significant amounts of oil to the environment? Here is a pair of satellite images from NASA’s Earth Observatory that illustrate natural oil seeps.

The Mexican state-owned oil company, Pemex, is investing to boost production in several areas. One is a plan to have deepwater oil production from the Gulf of Mexico by 2015.

Rigzone.com has an interesting article that highlights some of the top oil and gas discoveries of 2008. Most of them are offshore and a couple are in ultradeep water. Discoveries in the Brazil offshore, Gulf of Mexico, offshore Philippines, offshore Angola, North Sea, and Australia’s Northwest shelf are featured.

Tremendous numbers of stinging jellyfish are swarming at many important fisheries and tourist destinations. Swarms have been reported at Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. east coast, Bering Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Australia, Black Sea, Sea of Japan, North Sea and Namibia.