GOM shelf

[setliff]

Armed with new technology, oil drillers revisit Gulf of Mexico


By Swetha Gopinath and Sayantani Ghosh

Mon Aug 4, 2014 11:37am EDT

(Reuters) - Advances in drilling technology are reviving the prospects of oil companies in shallow parts of the Gulf of Mexico, helping to squeeze more from older fields while the U.S. shale bonanza lures others onshore.

Apache Corp and a handful of smaller independent companies are using seismic surveying and horizontal drilling - techniques perfected during the onshore fracking boom - to tap mature fields and find hidden reserves on the shelf.

The methods appeal to investors hungry for the quick profits that cannot be delivered by deepwater drilling, where a dozen years of planning and billions of dollars in investment can be required to get oil pumping.

The technology, already used successfully by Apache in the North Sea, has revealed oil and gas reserves that were previously hidden in water less than 500 feet (150 meters) deep.

"3D seismic has not only helped us in acquiring new leases with new reserves on them, but also in sharpening targets for development drilling in our existing fields," Andy Clifford, president of Saratoga Resources Inc, told Reuters.

Replacing reserves and increasing production has long been a challenge on the Gulf of Mexico shelf. The easy-to-find oil has already been drilled, resulting in a drastic fall in production.

But the use of seismic data, much more precise than previous mapping techniques, is tempting geologists to take a second look for new fields and re-evaluate older deposits to see what might be left behind.

rest of story here--------

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/ ... EU20140804

[setliff]

if this picks up, it could provide upsides for the likes of RDC and other jackup focused drillers.

[dan_s]

This is the focus of Gulfslope Energy. The CEO will be speaking at our luncheon on Thursday in Houston.