New Find in Gulf of Mexico Could Boost U.S. Reserves by 15 Billion Barrels

This is great news! The more oil, natural gas, and alternative petroleum sources such as oil shale and tar sands we can develop in this hemisphere helps us greatly to divorce ourselves from reliance on Middle East sources. Add the renewed interest in building nuclear power plants, and perhaps becoming energy independent is not a pipe dream.


[edit on 9/5/2006 by djohnsto77]

And more environmental disasters. And more production in the path of a destructive hurricane.

If we truly want to become totally energy independant, we need to get off this fossil fuel crap REALLY quick and start investing all the money and energy we use extracting the fuels into developing and marketing new, clean renewable energy types.

Otherwise, we are like heroin addicts who simply have found a way to distill the smack at home instead of relying on dealers for our supply. We are still sickly addicts.

This find will never compare to the incredible vast expanses of oil reserves in Iraq and Iran.

The oil will go into US reserves so I don't see how this can help with our demand on foreign oil.

im sorry but i dont understand why you think this oil will be immediately placed in U.S. reserves, and how that won't help us either...

I agree that we must end the oil addiction, but this will help us during the "withdrawl" phase. As more cars are converted to alternative fuel, and other individual wastes of oil are reduced, this oil can be used for more vital things (jets come to my mind).

I don't believe anyone is thinking that this find will allow us to abuse oil for thirty more years, maybe, just maybe, we believe this oil will help reduce our presence in a situation that creates anti-americanism while we pave the way for a fossil-free future


current mood: optimistic



p.s. hopefully our methods of extraction will have advanced far enough to eliminate as much threat to the environment as possible when we really start to pull it out. I was thinking about an underground pipeline or something as such. Anyone know where i can get some info on advanced/future oil extraction methods??

[edit on 5-9-2006 by Philadelphite]

Great new for most Americans! Judging by the replys so far...bad news for Democrats!

It has been that way since Bush took office, any good news for America is bad news for Democrats!

posted by marg6043

This find will never compare to the incredible vast expanses of oil reserves in Iraq and Iran. The oil will go into US reserves so I don't see how this can help with our demand on foreign oil.

This Gulf of Mexico find is estimated at between 3 and 15 billion barrels. The US currently uses about 20 million bbls a day, importing about 15 million bbls a day. This means at current consumption rates, 20 m/b/d, we would have a 750 days supply from this one find. Or, if we replaced all our imports, we could have a 1,000 days of foreign oil independence. 2 years, 9 months. Saudi Arabian reserves are nearly 10 times those of the United States.

“Reserve” in this instance means what the oil industry calls “proven reserves.” That is accomplished by drilling a number of exploratory wells around the field, then estimating how much oil is under the ground and capable of being recovered. Of that kind of oil, the US has 29 billion barrels. On that basis, and at current consumption rates, the US have enough oil to supply its needs for 11 years, provided imports of foreign oil continue at the current level. Note: The US imports only about 2 m/b/d from the Persian Gulf. Most of our imported oil is from the Western Hemisphere.

This oil "reserve" is not to be confused with the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve which is about 750 million barrels of ready to go crude oil, stored in old salt mines around the Louisiana-Texas Gulf Coast. 50 days supply at current consumption rates.

The find is in deep water and the wells are very deep. Chevron said the well set a variety of records, including the deepest well successfully tested in the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron said the well was drilled more than 20,000 feet under the sea floor below 7,000 feet of water for a total depth of 28,175 feet. From the AP.

Post Script.
One major source of confusion when talking about oil “reserves” and “proven reserves” is this: assume an oil field. The field is defined by the geological structure way below the ground. This is measured as if it was an earthquake. Seismically. Small explosions or air hammers pound the earth and a number of seismic monitors sited around the field give readouts that when taken together, can be used to plot the geological structure, the oil field. Suppose this underground structure is 20 X 20 miles, or 400 square miles. Based on other fields in similar geological structures, the field can be estimated to hold, say 10 to 25 billion barrels of oil.

Suppose you drill a half dozen wells over an area of 4 miles X 5 miles. 20 square miles. You may discover this area holds 5 billion barrels of oil, now called “proven” reserves. As that part of the field is used up, other exploratory wells will be drilled to add to the proven reserves. So, it is entirely probable this one oil field will have approximately the same amount of “proven reserves” for many years, even though the field is under active production. Many people mix the terms, “reserves” and “proven reserves.” The former is a guesstimate but the latter is very reliable. DW


[edit on 9/5/2006 by donwhite]

I don't find any information coming from Fox news to be particularly persuasive.
Do you have another source?

Maybe one that hasn't been labeled a major exporter of propaganda?

bbc
Drilling at a test well yielded "a flow rate of more than 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day", Chevron said.

The discovery may rival the biggest US oil field in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Experts caution that the true size of the oil field is not yet known and it will be a long time before any of the oil there enters the market.

"In the last 15 years, there've been so many great projects that started out and then petered out," Matt Simmons, the head of a group of energy investment bankers, told Reuters news agency.

Recently in the Gulf of Mexico, "there's been a lot more bitter disappointments than phenomenal surprises", he said.

The head of an energy consulting firm, Art Smith, told the Associated Press news agency that despite the discovery, the US will still be importing more than 50% of its oil needs.

"The US still has a big difference between its consumption and indigenous production," Mr Smith said.

Experts said the oil from the well is unlikely to be available for many years and the discovery is not going to ease spiralling global oil prices.

if u look at the bold spots it hasnt been fully verified that the oil reserve there is that large just assumption,

second it will be a couple of years before its fully exploited

also is this is true , this would give the US one reason to keep its nose out of the middle east since it wont be that relient on arabs for fuel

Just heard an analyst on CNN, that this find would only help for about 2 years as the USA uses soooo much oil anyways. The find may also not be as "huge" as estimated. Sorry no link available to that commentary.

It would actually be more likely to last anywhere from 20-40 years, given a much more realistic draw rate of 1-2M barrels daily.

Originally posted by vor78
It would actually be more likely to last anywhere from 20-40 years, given a much more realistic draw rate of 1-2M barrels daily.

Where on earth did you get 1-2M barrels daily?? The whole find "could" be worth 15B barrels total. Probably will not be that big.

Here are some statistics for US consumption.

source

U.S. Petroleum Consumption 20,656,000 barrels/day

20M barrels a day just for petroleum.

U.S. Motor Gasoline Consumption 9,125,000 barrels/day (383.3million gallons/day)

9M barrels daily for gasoline.

15B divided by 29M/daily = 517.24 days

We have an ATS board called “Peak Oil.” Or maybe it’s a thread. Anyway, the title, “peak oil” says it all. Oil discoveries around the world are also related to local politics, cash flow, and a myriad of other factors besides whether or not there really is recoverable oil below the ground. Aside: I understand Persian Gulf oil wells are about 3,000-7,500 feet deep and it is a heck of a lot easier (cheaper) to drill a well on solid ground than in 7,000 feet of water as in this well named Jack 2.

I mention all that to say this. We cannot really “know” how much oil is where, so how can we tell when we are in trouble? Easy, so they who should know say. It is when production declines. That and that alone will produce the moment in history called “peak oil.”

Declining production will be the best indicator that we have pumped the first half of the oil that is available to be pumped. From that moment onward, production will decline more just at the moment when consumption will continue to rise. That may be 175 years post-Titusville, or it may be, if we are lucky, 200 years. But if oil is finite, then it will come. While we are presently being manipulated by organized, near total monopoly sellers, it is still a buyers market. And we have a small amount of potential clout remaining; we could either cut back in our consumption, or maybe ration gasoline.

I predict the nations of the world will nationalize their remaining oil reserves very shortly after passing “peak oil.” The temptation to profiteer will be too great for the oil monopolists to resist. If energy is 4% of our household budgets, and food 22%, the energy companies will want to raise their share of your budget at the expense of another category, say food, for example. Instead of making the old folks choice of food or medicine, you will be forced to make the choice of gasoline or food. Then you will consent to nationalizing the petroleum industry. Which will not increase the amount of oil available, but it will keep a very small number of people from owning the world.

Maybe every person on the planet will be allotted the same number of gallons. Then, if you are poor, and live in Niger or Mali, you may be able to “sell” your allotment via the internet, to people in America who want to drive a Chevy Yukon or a Dodge Magnum with a 400 hp hemi engine. Then the person in Niger or Mali won’t be so poor! Maybe they can buy some of the food you can't afford.

PS to Valkeryie. I think the 9+ m/b/d of gasoline is included in the "total" consumptoin figure of 20+ m/b/d. DW



[edit on 9/6/2006 by donwhite]

Originally posted by valkeryie

Originally posted by vor78
It would actually be more likely to last anywhere from 20-40 years, given a much more realistic draw rate of 1-2M barrels daily.

Where on earth did you get 1-2M barrels daily?? The whole find "could" be worth 15B barrels total. Probably will not be that big.

Here are some statistics for US consumption.

source

U.S. Petroleum Consumption 20,656,000 barrels/day

20M barrels a day just for petroleum.

U.S. Motor Gasoline Consumption 9,125,000 barrels/day (383.3million gallons/day)

9M barrels daily for gasoline.

15B divided by 29M/daily = 517.24 days

I'm speaking of the field itself, not US daily consumption (gasoline is included in that first figure, BTW).

This find will never produce anything close to 21M barrels daily, which is average daily US consumption. That 1-2M barrels daily that I mentioned is actually optimistic; there are only four oil fields in the world currently producing more than 1M barrels per day, and only one producing more than 2M.

Originally posted by vor78This find will never produce anything close to 21M barrels daily, which is average daily US consumption. That 1-2M barrels daily that I mentioned is actually optimistic; there are only four oil fields in the world currently producing more than 1M barrels per day, and only one producing more than 2M.

Yes, your figures on draw rate seem to be fairly reasonable.
Unfortunatly, they underline the problem with shortfall. Yes, the field could last 20 years, but it can't hope to provide the US with the oil it needs at current consumption rates.

It's those current rates that are the big issue. If we can't cut consumption (not just in the US, but globally), we're screwed. It's an unsustainable system.

THAT is what "peek oil" IS.