Eldon Ball • Houston
Gulf of Mexico oil production is forecast to increase substantially over the next few years, reaching as much as 1.9 MMb/d in 2013, according to US Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates.
That level – an MMS best-case scenario – would be a record high. It factors in industry-announced discoveries and estimates of undiscovered resources.
Recent startups at BP-operated Thunder Horse (capacity: 280 Mb/d; 200 MMcf/d gas), BHP-operated Shenzi (capacity: 100 Mb/d; 50 MMcf/d), Chevron-operated Tahiti (capacity: 125 Mb/d; 70 MMcf/d), and volumes of oil and gas production coming back online from hurricane shut-ins are reversing the GoM oil production trend upward, albeit temporarily. MMS says 75% of the increase in oil production and 72% of the growth in gas production this year will result from hurricane shut-ins coming back online.
See Managing Editor David Paganie’s report beginning on page 28.
Kaleidoscope to bring more subsalt to light
A project by Repsol YPF to take subsalt seismic imaging to a new level of sophistication may reveal significant new reserves in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. The project, called Kaleidoscope, will use new generation seismic imaging algorithms on the next generation of high-performance computers.
As Francisco Ortigosa of Repsol YPF explains in this month’s issue, the goal is to make it possible to derive the best possible decisions from an ever-growing volume of data generated by today’s subsalt survey methods.
Also, it is a technological response to the competitive business environment in the Gulf of Mexico. The region has a rising volume of seismic data and significant remaining oil reserves, and is of interest to Repsol, he says. Given that the cost of a well in the GoM can easily be over $100 million, the new technology provides the company with a competitive advantage.
New seismic imaging algorithms are required for success in the GoM, Ortigosa says, and this new generation of algorithms cannot be processed on the historical computer hardware configuration. So, alongside developing the new seismic interpretation techniques, Repsol needed a new generation of hardware capable of making best use of the new interpretation algorithms.
The context that drives Repsol to create this project also has to do with the challenges of deepwater, subsalt exploration in the GoM, where locating oil reserves below the salt can be extremely difficult. Operators in the GoM need to “see” underneath these salt bodies to locate reserves.
Read how Repsol plans to do just that, beginning on page 46.
HP/HT, cost savings drive global stim vessel market
Deep and high-pressure offshore well stimulation jobs remain the drivers for new stim vessel technology this year, as reflected inOffshore’s annual vessel survey in this issue. The market in 2009 has adjusted from the boom during the previous year, coinciding with a decline in oil prices that have hit the service market in general. The leaner market coincides with increased innovation for well stimulation services, with new technologies aimed at specialized downhole conditions in areas of long term growth.
The key markets for new vessels in 2009 are West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico, according to responses from industry sources. Updates around the world are reported in this year’s World Survey of Stimulation Vessels.
The rollouts of new technology this year sport state-of-the-art upgrades geared toward the challenges operators face in high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) environments. See the report and survey of global stim vessels by John Waggoner, Technology Editor, Drilling & Production, beginning on page 62.
To respond to articles in Offshore, or to offer articles for publication, contact the editor by email ([email protected]).
