U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

Deepwater Production in the Gulf of Mexico Jumps Dramatically

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced today that production of offshore oil and gas in the deepwater (water depths greater than 305 meters [1,000 ft]) portion of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) jumped substantially again in 1999 and continues to increase rapidly.  Estimated production of oil from the deepwater areas rose 41 percent in 1999 over 1998.  Natural gas production from the deepwater area rose an estimated 51 percent in 1999.  Over the last five years, the increase in deepwater has been 309 percent for oil and 367 percent for natural gas.

Another major milestone was reached in November 1999 when the volume of oil production coming from the deepwater portion of GOM surpassed that from the shallow-water portion.  Even though only 30 of the 747 (four percent) producing GOM fields are in deepwater, they now provide over half of the Gulf’s daily oil production.  This marked a major milestone in Gulf of Mexico production, which first started in the shallow water some 53 years ago in 1947.

Production in 1999 from the deepwater areas of the Gulf was 225 million barrels of oil (compared with an estimated total Gulf production of 494 million barrels of oil).  Deepwater gas production was 846 Bcf, compared with an estimated total of 5,006 Bcf in 1999.

The attached graphs illustrate the deepwater production increases.

The MMS is the Federal agency that manages the Nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the OCS; and collects, accounts for, and disburses about $4 billion in yearly revenues from offshore Federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and American Indian lands.

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