The timing pre-empts the news that Venezuela has surpassed Saudi Arabia as world's biggest oil source. Rev. Pat Robertson really needed this discovery.
And it's in sedimentary rock, so we can continue to believe in fossil fuel, despite Swedish and Canadian and Russian and Vietnamese oil and gas production from basement rock. Maybe the Cubans were planning to have China drill in basement rock. The oil companies actually put it in contracts with exploration scientists that they can't tell people they and the vast majority of their peers don't believe it's fossil fuel. -Bob --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, "mark urban" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > between what is in the caribbean and alaska, the usa does not need an > ounce of foreign oil to meet its needs. so much geopolitics and > societal control is mixed up in the oil business that it just sickens > me. prudhoe bay is nothing compared to kruparak and gull island. > > do you really think the oil companies just out of the blue discovered > so much oil? no way! they've been sitting on this for years. > > the politics at play is so pathetic that a child can see through it, > yet we just keep lapping this shit up. > > > --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, "muckblit" muckblit@ wrote: > > > > another article > > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- > dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR200609\ > > 0500275_pf.html > > > > U.S. Oil Reserves Get a Big Boost > > Chevron-Led Team Discovers Billions of Barrels in Gulf of Mexico's > Deep > > Water > > > > By Steven Mufson > > Washington Post Staff Writer > > Wednesday, September 6, 2006; D01 > > > > > > An oil discovery by Chevron Corp. has bolstered prospects that > petroleum > > companies will be able to tap giant reserves that lie far beneath > the > > deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. > > > > Oil analysts and company executives said newly released test results > > from a well 175 miles off the coast of Louisiana indicate that the > oil > > industry will be able to recover well more than 3 billion barrels, > and > > perhaps as much as 15 billion barrels, of oil from a geological area > > known as the lower tertiary trend, making it the biggest addition to > > U.S. petroleum reserves in decades. The upper end of the estimate > could > > boost U.S. reserves by 50 percent. > > > > "This looks to be the biggest discovery in the United States in a > > generation, really since the discovery of Prudhoe Bay 38 years ago," > > said Daniel Yergin, chairman of the consulting firm Cambridge Energy > > Research Associates Inc. "There's been a lot of anticipation about > > what's called the Wilcox formation, and this is the validation of > the > > theory and of the technology," he said, using another name for the > area > > of the Gulf. > > > > Cambridge Energy forecasts that the deep-water area of the Gulf of > > Mexico will produce 800,000 barrels of oil a day within seven years > and > > account for 11 percent of U.S. oil production. That would not solve > the > > world's energy problem or eliminate U.S. reliance on oil imports, > but it > > would help stabilize U.S. oil production, which has been declining, > and > > cover some of the world's rising demand for petroleum. Prudhoe Bay, > in > > northern Alaska, produced about 1.5 million barrels a day at its > peak. > > > > Although oil companies have been exploring the deep-water area of > the > > Gulf of Mexico for the past five years, there have not been any > previous > > production tests from the older tertiary trend, which is made > largely of > > Eocene era sediments more than 35 million years old. Chevron and its > > partners said the test showed that the oil deposits in the older > rock > > formations were technologically and economically viable. > > > > "The big question for everybody has been whether these rocks would > flow > > and at what rates," said Paul Siegele, head of Chevron's deep-water > Gulf > > exploration unit. "These are older rocks than have been explored > before. > > While everyone was excited about the amount of oil in place, the > > question was whether it would flow at rates that would be economic, > and > > that's why the test was so important." > > > > Chevron said yesterday that 6,000 barrels a day of crude oil flowed > > through a test well from the tertiary trend more than 20,000 feet > > beneath the sea floor in 7,000 feet of water. Chevron's partners > noted > > that the oil flowed from just 40 percent of the more than 350 feet > of > > oil-bearing sediments. Siegele said that the oil was high quality > and > > low in sulfur and that it flowed through an opening less than an > inch in > > diameter. But he said the company would not divulge the exact size > of > > the opening, an important detail for analysts. > > > > Still, John P. Herrlin, an oil analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co., > said > > the production test announcement was "meaningful because it opens a > new > > fairway" in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico oil area, which also > includes > > other geological prospects. Herrlin said the lower tertiary trend > alone > > could hold 3 billion barrels to 15 billion barrels of recoverable > oil > > reserves. > > > > That's a figure Chevron used earlier this year to describe the size > of > > the tertiary trend prospect. In an interview yesterday, Siegele > said the > > new test results reinforced that estimate. But separately, Stephen > J. > > Hadden, senior vice president for exploration and production at > Devon > > Energy Corp., a partner in the Chevron exploration well, said the 3 > > billion barrel figure was too low. Cambridge Energy's Robert W. > Esser > > said the Eocene or Wilcox sediments could hold 10 billion barrels. > > > > Exploration and production in deep-water areas have become more > > important to world oil production as production from older fields > on or > > close to shore begins to decline. And technological advances have > made > > it easier to work in the difficult deep-water conditions. Companies > are > > also searching in deeper waters off places such as the west coast of > > Africa. > > > > But the costs of exploring for oil in deep water far from shore run > > high, which makes it important to find bigger fields. Chevron's > Siegele > > said the test well, called the Jack No. 2, cost more than $100 > million. > > Devon Energy's Hadden said a production facility in the area could > cost > > between $250 million and $500 million, plus a series of production > wells > > at a cost of $80 million to $120 million each. It isn't clear > whether > > the companies would build a floating platform and put the oil > directly > > into tankers or a platform would connect to pipelines that would > run to > > shore. > > > > "What's really happening is the opening up of a whole new horizon > in the > > ultra-deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and it looks like the > upside is > > very significant," Yergin said. "But it will take time and billions > of > > dollars to get there." > > > > Chevron operates and owns 50 percent of the Jack No. 2 well. Devon > > Energy and Statoil ASA each own 25 percent of the project. > > > > Hadden said Devon's share of the reserves in the lower tertiary > trend > > could more than double the company's reserve base of about 2 billion > > barrels of oil and oil equivalents, such as natural gas. It > vindicates a > > strategic decision the company made in 2001 to invest heavily in the > > deep water of the Gulf of Mexico, he said. The company expects to > begin > > production from another deep-water area in the Gulf, called > Cascade, in > > 2009, Hadden said. The company's stock jumped 12.5 percent > yesterday to > > close at $72.14 a share. > > > > Chevron is the company with the most leases in the lower tertiary > trend, > > which Hadden said is a couple of hundred miles long and 50 to 70 > miles > > wide. Devon is next, followed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Exxon > Mobil > > Corp., BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. > > > > Last week, in another indication that big reserves lie in deep-water > > Gulf of Mexico, BP said it had found more than 800 feet of oil- > bearing > > rock in its Kaskida discovery well in the Keathley Canyon area > about 75 > > miles north and west of Chevron's Jack well. It is part of the same > > geological trend. > > > Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! 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