Deepwater Gulf of Mexico: Americas Emerging Frontier.

摘要

The deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico has emerged as a world class oil and gas province in the last four years. Leasing, exploration, and production activity accelerated rapidly since MMS first published MMS Report 97-0004 in 1997 to herald the arrival of the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico as America's new frontier. In 1999, total Gulf of Mexico oil production reached an estimated 494 million barrels after hovering around 300 million barrels a year for much of the decade. The increase has come from the deepwater and was highlighted in late 1999, when oil production from the deepwater portion of the Gulf of Mexico exceeded that of the shallow water for the first time in history. This historic change after 53 years of production in the Gulf of Mexico has been driven by several major factors all coalescing in the late 1990's. High flow rate wells have driven the economics of projects and acted as a strong incentive to explore and develop deepwater leases. The use of subsea well completions has also contributed to the economics of deepwater projects. At the end of 1999 there were 186 subsea completions-62 of them in deepwater-and they accounted for 25 percent of all deepwater oil production and 40 percent of deepwater gas production.