The deeper the well, the longer the umbilical. This is a very interesting article. "The successful production of oil from the five-mile-deep Jack well in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to spur more deep-water exploration around the world "
"Around the world, deep-water exploration is accelerating and offering some tantalizing new sources of oil. Many of the companies involved in deep-water exploration are oil behemoths that have enormous cash stockpiles with relatively few places to invest that money in a world where the best prospects, such as the Middle East, are largely closed to Western investment. "
"In addition to companies involved in the Jack well, deep-water oil is poised to play a larger role in the portfolios of Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA. In the Gulf of Mexico, midsize companies such as Devon and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are participating." "Nearly half the largest oil fields due to start up in the next four years are in deep water, usually considered anything deeper than 2,500 feet.
The rush into deep waters is stretching the industry's drilling resources perilously thin -- raising exploration costs and slowing down the ability to explore regions. Robert Long, chief executive of deep-water drilling contractor Transocean Inc., told a Lehman Brothers conference this month that off the coast of West Africa "I could name six or seven different customers right now who are looking for deep-water capacity as soon as they could get it." cont. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=36305
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