U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Office of Public Affairs

MMS Announces Eight Deepwater Discoveries in 2004
Gulf of Mexico Helps Meet America’s Oil Needs

Unstable foreign oil production and record oil prices may have consumers slowing down on the roads of America, but domestic energy producers continue working at a brisk pace in frontier areas of the Gulf of Mexico to meet our nation’s energy needs.  The Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that oversees ocean energy production, announced today that companies have made eight new discoveries of deepwater oil and gas since January—a trend the agency expects to continue.  The list of new discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico includes a BP discovery on its “Puma” project in Green Canyon, and Unocal’s discoveries on its “Tobago” prospect in Alaminos Canyon and its “San Jacinto” prospect in Desoto Canyon.

MMS’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Chris Oynes hailed the results as “very encouraging.  We are off to a great start in calendar year 2004.  The deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico continues to rapidly unfold as the major domestic energy source for the United States.  While several new deepwater projects came on production in the Gulf in 2003, these eight new discoveries indicate that the province is still developing at a brisk pace.”  The eight discoveries are those that have been publicly announced individually by the companies or their partners.

In 2004, several more deepwater projects have begun production.  ExxonMobil Corporation announced the startup of production from the Llano field, located in the Garden Banks area in 2,600 feet of water.  Dominion Exploration & Production, Inc., announced the start of production from the Devils Tower field, located in the Mississippi Canyon area in 5,610 feet of water.

According to Oynes, the steady drilling program and the growing deepwater infrastructure all indicate that the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will continue to be an integral part of this Nation’s energy supply and remain one of the world’s premier oil and gas basins.

The Minerals Management Service 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 American Indian lands.  MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in fiscal year 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

 MMS Main Website:  www.mms.gov
Gulf of Mexico Website:  www.gomr.mms.gov

***MMS: Securing Ocean Energy and Economic Value for America***

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Deepwater Discoveries Announced in 2004
Gulf of Mexico OCS
(Through June 1, 2004)
 

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