In the Gulf of Mexico, deepwater leases produce large volumes of oil and gas from only a few surface facilities that are relatively distant from shore.
The Gulf of Mexico encompasses approximately 617,800 square miles and stretches 932 miles across from east to west. BOEM’s deepwater bathymetry grid of the northern Gulf of Mexico, created using 3D seismic data, covers more than 90,000 square miles (colored area in figure below). In this vast area, only 59 surface facilities produce ~1.7 million bopd and 2.2 bcfd.
The 59 deepwater facilities are comprised of:
- 6 fixed platforms in water depths from 1023 to 1353′
- 2 compliant towers (1648 and 1754′)
- 17 tension leg platforms and mini-TLPs (1500-5185′)
- 18 spars (1930-7835′).
- 13 production semisubmersibles (aka floating production units; 3280-7400′)
- 2 fpso’s (8300 and 9560′) and a mobile production unit (2200′)
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 