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

Surge in Deepwater Drilling in Gulf of Mexico Continues

The number of rigs working in deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico remains at a high of 47 this week, according to the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS).

This activity is in 1,000 feet of water, MMS’s traditional measure of deepwater.  These 47 rigs are up from the 39 rigs working at the beginning of the year.

Using the more conservative 1,500 feet of water that most oil and gas companies use, the number of working deepwater rigs rose to an all time high of 43 (compared with 32 at the beginning of the year).

MMS also announced that Union Oil Company was drilling in a New World record water depth of 9,727 feet, which eclipsed Unocal’s previous record of 9,687 feet on the same prospect --Trident-- on Alaminos Canyon Block 903.

MMS added that the total number of deepwater wells drilled in Fiscal Year 2001 (which ended on September 30, 2001) reached a new high of 277 total wells versus the 226 drilled the previous year.  (See attached chart)

MMS also noted that 9 rigs were working in ultra-deepwater of 5,000 feet or greater (compared with 8 at the beginning of the year).  The companies operating the 9 wells and their water depths are

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases.  These revenues totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.