Minerals Management Service (MMS) publishes information on a
regular basis that provides valuable information for the evaluation of
potential hydrocarbon prospects in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2001, MMS began
to offer incentives to encourage drilling for potential gas targets in the
Deep Shelf Gas Trend. Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Gale Norton
announced
new incentives to further stimulate natural gas production. This
publication (Potential Deep Gas Prospects for Sale 190) highlights
information related to potential prospects in the Deep Shelf Gas Trend on
tracts available for bid in
Central
Gulf of Mexico Sale 190.
Numerous
wells have been drilled in the Central Gulf of Mexico planning
area that have total depths greater than 15,000' TVDSS and in water depths
of less than 200 meters. We have included information from over 1800 of
these wells located on over 700 different OCS tracts in the Central Gulf of
Mexico planning area that may provide pertinent information for the
identification and evaluation of prospects for the Central Gulf of Mexico
Sale 190. The
well information attached to the above map is also summarized and
available in a spreadsheet format. Prior to each lease sale, MMS publishes
an
Indicated Hydrocarbon List that identifies wells in the Gulf of
Mexico with occurrences of hydrocarbons. This list contains more detailed
data on some of the wells used in the aforementioned map. Also highlighted
on this map are OCS tracts that received bids in
Central
Gulf of Mexico Sale 185, but were not awarded because the high bid
amounts were determined by MMS to be below Fair Market Value (i.e. "Rejected
Bids"). These tracts are available for bid in the Central Gulf of Mexico
Sale 190.
The well information provided in this publication is just an example and
does not represent all of the well information that MMS has available for
the public. Additional information (such as complete suites of well logs
available in hard copy, digital format and/or as raster images,
paleontological data, etc.) on the wells highlighted in this
publication is available through the MMS website and /or the MMS Public
Information Office (1-800-200-GULF).
There are several
fields, active and expired, in the Central Gulf of Mexico
planning area that are in less than 200 meters of water that have gas
production from below 15,000’ TVDSS. Detailed information from these and
other Gulf of Mexico fields is available in the
1999
Offshore Atlas. The complete 1999 Offshore Atlas is available
through the MMS Public Information Office. Natural gas production from the
Deep Shelf Gas Trend is consistently becoming a greater contributor to the
total gas production from the shelf areas (water depths less than
200 meters) of the Central Gulf of Mexico. Production data for each field
in the Gulf of Mexico is available in the
MMS OCS Field Directory which is updated monthly on the MMS
website.
Recently, there have been several significant
deep shelf discoveries in the Central Gulf of Mexico
planning area. We have selected five
untested prospects on available OCS acreage that typify potential
plays in areas (water depth<200 m) and at drill depths (total depth >15,000’
TVDSS) that may qualify for the Deep Gas Initiative if discoveries were
made. Detailed information on plays with deep gas potential in the Central
Gulf of Mexico is available in the
MMS 2000 National Assessment. If you have any questions and/or
comments concerning the content of this publication, please feel free to
contact Greg Condray at (504)736-2927 or via e-mail (link provided below).
Greg Condray
In memory of Steve WiddicombeDisclaimer
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