Just as the Thunder Horse discovery was being readied for production, a second even larger find was made a few miles to the southeast in the deep Gulf of Mexico two years ago. Together, BP's Thunder Horse and the new Chevron-led Jack discovery may well represent one of the largest oil finds in history. It is vast, but it won't be cheap. There is currently thought to be between 5 an 15 BILLION barrels of oil in the Jack field. And more may lie in deeper waters.

It's beginning to look like the Chicxulub impact (the meteor thought to have caused the mass extinction of most life on earth at the end of the Cretaceous period) produced massive fractures throughout the Central Gulf that have since become huge hydrocarbon traps. On the strength of these latest discoveries, hopes are running high for finding more hydrocarbon in the deep Gulf.

We are really working at the boundaries of technology to drill and produce these fields. Giant dynamically-positioned drilling and production vessels will "hover" over a precise spot on the ocean floor and with two or even more drilling rigs on board, begin to drill the deep directional wells that will enter these huge pay zones (some as much as 800 feet thick) to extract the oil and gas they encounter there.

Drilling to depths between 28K and 32K feet is extremely difficult - and it takes time. It's not like boring a hole in the ground, but a complex manipulation of pressure, chemistry, and mechanical cutting that reaches the producing zone with a minimum of leaks, spills, and other drama that can destroy not only the well itself, but possibly affect the production of the entire field.

To put the operation in perspective, the deepest oil well drilled to date was near Elk City, Oklahoma a generation ago that was terminated at just over 32,000 feet - and found nothing. Nearly three years of drilling and incredible expense for nothing but the experience.

Now, visualize drilling the same well 250 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico from a floating rig, in 7-10 thousand feet of water. That's the challenge. Just latching onto the subsea wellhead two miles down is the equivalent of lowering a teaspoon by a string from the top of the Empire State Building into a teacup on the sidewalk.

Once you've accomplished that trick, be expected to repeat it quite a few times as your riser pipe is disconnected in storms, maintenance has to be done on the BOP stack on the seafloor by ROV's and you begin to get an idea of the technology involved just positioning the bit over the hole. Then the drilling job begins.

What kinds of technologies will do this? Last week's Offshore Technology Conference featured papers and exhibits on a few of the less sensitive projects underway. Enormous floating factories with hundreds of men and women on board - each approximating the size of a Midwestern town will work 24/7 for the next ten years to develop these fields hundreds of miles offshore.

Real-time satellite communication will allow engineers onshore to watch and record drilling data within 3 seconds of its origin on the rig in the US, Europe, and Asia as manufacturers evaluate their products' performance, geologists analyze drill cuttings and chemistry coming back from six or eight miles down, and drilling engineers fine tune the optimal pressures, torque, feeds, and weight at the bit for most efficient drilling through changing geological strata.

Automation and computers will control a good number of critical tasks, assuring the operation stays on schedule and budget. Both the environment and the workers onboard these floating cities will be safe, thanks to constant monitoring an predictive analysis of the data stream flowing from the bit face to the rig and offices around the world.

Special private weather forecasts for the rig will help keep the operation going even in bad weather - and giving warning to stop work, batten down the hatches and even evacuate the platform if another monster hurricane comes calling. Large service boats ply the Gulf bringing stores of fuel and consumables - tools, parts, groceries - everything a city needs. They will haul away trash and contaminated fluids that can't be disposed on board. Fleets of large long-range helicopters bring both workers and specialists to the rig on a schedule that would flatter a commuter airport.

Life aboard one of these vessels is pretty comfortable. Sure you work 12 hours a day, with 12 hours off to eat and sleep, but your accommodations while not luxurious, are clean and bright. Your bunk is comfortable and the sheets changed regularly, the head is spotless with lots of hot water for the showers. Food is rich and there's PLENTY available 'round the clock. The cooks are among the best in the business, and chow is a fitness guru's nightmare. It doesn't matter, you'll burn off about 4500 calories a day on the job. And in 30 days you'll get to go home for two to four weeks - at full pay.

It's something to think about while you're pumping gas this week - these days what's at the other end of that hose is pretty remarkable, and we've only seen the beginning.

 

The sad thing is, there is more than enough oil in the US to eliminate our foreign need; but the environazis with their pseudoscience prevent that from happening. They'd rather have people starve