And you thought drilling Deepwater Horizon was a feat? meh.

[Are_grits_groceries]

BP announced today a giant oil discovery at its Tiber Prospect in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.

The well, located in Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 250 miles (400 kilometres) south east of Houston, is in 4,132 feet (1,259 metres) of water. The Tiber well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 35,055 feet (10,685 metres) making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled by the oil and gas industry. The well found oil in multiple Lower Tertiary reservoirs. Appraisal will be required to determine the size and commerciality of the discovery.

"Tiber represents BP’s second material discovery in the emerging Lower Tertiary play in the US Gulf of Mexico, following our earlier Kaskida discovery," said Andy Inglis, chief executive, Exploration and Production. "These material discoveries together with our industry leading acreage position support the continuing growth of our deepwater Gulf of Mexico business into the second half of the next decade.

Read more: http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/05/how-bps-deepwater-horizon-oil-find-was-originally-reported-in-september-2009.html#ixzz0qZaW4YSv

If they didn't blow up the Gulf with Deepwater, they were sure going to give it a hell of a shot with this one.

[chill_wind]

1. grits, have you seen this one? Perdido? Smashes world record--

Perdido - *world's deepest* offshore drilling and production well- started producing in GOM May 18

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8476816

BP owns part of that one, too.


Just went into production in May. Anybody seen the regulatory review and Emergency Spill/Response Plan for that one? Anybody want to take bets what it looks like?

Meanwhile, Salazar gets a court order to keep the Atlantis operating, despite missing nearly 90% of the safety and engineering certification documents on subsea components that watchdogs and lawmakers say are crucial to not operating in the blind.

[Jennicut]

2. Isn't this 8000 feet below the surface of the ocean? Yikes.

[chill_wind]

3. Right, Jennicut-- that's the one. Really gives me chills.

The facility sits in approximately 2,450 metres (8,000 feet) of water, which is roughly equivalent to six Empire State Buildings stacked one atop the other, and will access reservoirs deep beneath the ocean floor. Perdido smashes the world water depth record for an offshore platform by more than 50%.

http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/our_strategy/major_projects_2/perdido/overview/

[Bluebear]

4. Yay, maybe next they will drill right through the planet and crack it in half!

What an accomplishment that would be! :silly:

[chill_wind]

6. They're WORKIN ON IT.

Give em time and maybe a little more help from Salazar...

[Are_grits_groceries]

11. I hadn't really read much about that one. Thanks.

They are all playing with fire. There are huge pockets of natural gas in these fields. They have no idea what they are really going to do in an emergency.
Just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you should do something.

[Electric Monk]

5. Perdido? Who names these?

Perdido, -A
adjective
1. lost (extraviado); stray (animal, bala)
¡estamos perdidos! (figurative) -> we're done for!, we're lost!
2. filthy (sucio) (peninsular Spanish)
ponerse perdido, -a de pintura/barro -> to get (oneself) covered in paint/mud
3. wasted (tiempo); missed (ocasión)
4. complete, utter (informal) (de remate)
es idiota perdido, -a -> he's a complete idiot

http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/perdido

[KittyWampus]

7. I still marvel at how apt the word "crude" is when applied to oil.

[Are_grits_groceries]

9. Macondo isn't much better.

Macondo Oilfield = Named After Literary Cursed Town, Destroyed By Hurricane
Ultimately, Macondo is destroyed by a terrible hurricane, which symbolizes the cyclical turmoil inherent in Macondo.
Macondo is a fictional town described in Gabriel García Márquez's novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'

I hope the hurricane isn't foreshadowing.

[Catherina]

12. Great names! Deepwater Horizon, Atlantis and now Perdido

Atlantis - Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea"...


Perdido Spanish Translation
1. lost (extraviado); stray (animal, bala). ¡estamos perdidos! (figurative) -> we're done for!, we're lost!
2. filthy (sucio) (peninsular Spanish)

[BeFree]

8. Hey

Guess what? The US will soon own that well.

We already own the oil, so now we sell the pumps for say, a 10% cut of all the oil pumped.

Our deficit may have just found it's cash cow. The Golden Goose has laid our Golden Egg?

[Statistical]

10. THAT IS DEEP WATER HORIZON.

Deepwater Horizon = name of rig
Keathley Canon Block 102 = well site
Tiber = oil field

That is a quote from BP discovery of the site that eventually became the Deep Water Horizon disaster. :)