Re: Huge oil field found in Gulf of Mexico
- From: "Glenn Ashmore" <gashmore@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 21:05:47 -0400
As I understand it in the early Jurassic the Gulf of Mexico was a shallow
sea that grew a rich soup of plankton and other organic material. It dried
up periodically and layers of salt were laid down on top of the decaying
organics sealing it off. . Then about 100 million years of erosion from
North America covered the salt.
Current thought is that as Pangea broke up and North and South America moved
apart the basin of the old sea split apart and the Caribbean Plate moved in
from the Pacific. This would explain why there is oil in the Gulf and along
the north shore of South America but not in the Caribbean Basin. It also
explains why the further you get off the coast of North America the oil gets
deeper.
At the risk of stirring up the real kooks in this newsgroup, there is a
controversial (and highly Usenet flameable) theory that petroleum may not be
of biological origin. The discovery of vast amounts of Methane Hydrate
under the ocean floor and non-biological methane on Titan lends a degree of
credence to the idea that under heat and pressure nickel iron alloys act as
a catalyst to convert CO2 and hydrogen to methane which can then
metamorphoses into various petroleum substances.
Either way the oil gets trapped under the salt layers which have been
covered by millions of years of sediment.
--
Glenn Ashmore
I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com
"dave" <nospam> wrote in message
news:w-CdndPe6qEaYGDZnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please forgive me as I know very little about geology. How do sediments
build up 28,000 feet in 100 million years? Where do these sediments come
from, volcanoes?
DaveL
"George" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:_92dnaHGysB-a2DZnZ2dnUVZ_tCdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"dave" <nospam> wrote in message
news:SKudnRfzT7_0emDZnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Interesting article. I had no idea that they had to drill down that
deep. My question is how did dinosaurs and other marine life get down
there so deep? I guess the other theory about oil not coming from
organisms could explain this.
DaveL
I've known for some time that they were drilling that deep. In fact,
that field extends into Mexican waters where it is much larger. I think
they are exploring it, but have yet to drill that deep. As for the oil
being that deep, you must realize that those are marine sediments (I
don't know what era they are drilling to, but I suspect it may be latest
Jurassic or earliest Cretaceous. So yes, there were plenty of marine
critters around then to die and get buried in the bottom sediments then.
"George" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:d_6dnXgzOfH3OmDZnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1198182.php/Huge_oil_field_found_in_Gulf_of_Mexico
SAN RAMON, CA, United States (UPI) -- Chevron Corp. and two partners
have recorded a stunning 6,000-plus barrel per day crude oil production
rate from a single deep-water Gulf of Mexico well.
Known as the Jack 2 well, it sits in 7,000 feet of water and was
drilled to more than 28,000 feet, Chevron said Tuesday. The well, 270
miles southwest of New Orleans, revealed a net 350 feet of oil-bearing
soil.
Chevron and its partners, Devon Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City and
Norway`s Statoil ASA, will drill another appraisal well next year and
plan to begin commercial production in 2008. Chevron, the operator,
holds a 50 percent interest in the well, with Devon and Statoil both
holding 25 percent stakes.
If participants` expectations of the region`s prospects are correct,
the Jack 2 means billions of barrels of as-yet-untapped crude oil
available to the market.
Devon`s Stephen J. Hadden, senior vice president, exploration and
production, said that, with 273 blocks under lease and 19 exploratory
prospects already identified in the area, the find could more than
double the company`s current reserve base of about 2 billion equivalent
barrels.
.
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