Deepwater Exploration and Production in the Gulf of Mexico-Challenges and Opportunities

摘要

Deepwater basins across the globe hold enormous amounts of oil and gas still ripe for the taking, but tapping these resources presents a host of challenges. There has been remarkable progress in deepwater over the last 20 years, but the technical challenges continue to evolve. New deepwater provinces are being established and new players are entering the business. Increased safety and environmental challenges have come along with more complex reservoirs and fluids, more remote and smaller fields, and relentless economic pressure. The world will need 27 million incremental barrels per day by 2020 to cover global demand growth as well as make up for production decline. Approximately 10 million barrels per day will need to come from deepwater. It will be an enormous challenge to deliver on this promise, but ever since the dawn of time, human ingenuity has peaked at times of greatest need. This article details how history is about to repeat itself in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM).