--> Abstract: A Business and Technical Overview of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Play, by W. K. Dirks and A. N. Van Der Berg; #90987 (1993).

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

DIRKS, WILLIAM K., and ALEX N. VAN DER BERG, Shell Offshore Inc., New Orleans, LA

ABSTRACT: A Business and Technical Overview of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Play

A steadily growing volume of publicly available data (well logs, speculative seismic surveys, press releases, etc.) strongly suggests that the deepwater portion of the Gulf of Mexico contains large reserves of recoverable hydrocarbons. Well-logs available through the MMS Order 4 Release Program indicate at least 25 potentially developable accumulations have been found, some 14 of which had been publicized at the time of this paper. We estimate that industry has spent in excess of $4 billion nominal to discover at least 1.5 Billion Barrels Equivalent, of which only a small fraction has been developed and produced to date.

Most volumetrically significant Deepwater discoveries can be geographically grouped into six "corridors" in which industry collaboration in terms of shared infrastructure, operating principles, service company support, etc. seems inevitable. Given the tremendous technical challenges and uncertainties associated with the play, coupled with the high cost of building, installing and operating Deepwater production systems, industry cooperation at least during the early stage of developing this resource will be critical to revitalizing the Gulf of Mexico.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.