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22-728: The Macondo Prospect ( Mississippi Canyon Block 252 , abbreviated MC252 ) is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico , off the coast of Louisiana . The prospect was the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 that led to a major oil spill in the region from the first exploration well, named itself MC252-1 (nicknamed also Macondo-1), which had been designed to investigate

44-421: A given date forward, from known reservoirs, and under existing economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations—prior to the time at which contracts providing the right to operate expire, unless evidence indicates that renewal is reasonably certain, regardless of whether deterministic or probabilistic methods are used for the estimation. The project to extract the hydrocarbons must have commenced or

66-514: Is 41 miles (66 km) offshore and 130 miles (210 km) from New Orleans. The geological formation targeted by the well was hydrocarbon-bearing "mid-" Miocene turbiditic sands. The depth of the formation was estimated between 4000 and 4500 m below the sea floor. In 1998, a regional shallow hazards survey and study was carried out at the Macondo area by KC Offshore . High resolution, 2D seismic data along with 3D exploration seismic data of

88-440: Is a high risk investment and risk assessment is paramount for successful project portfolio management . Exploration risk is a difficult concept and is usually defined by assigning confidence to the presence of the imperative geological factors, as discussed above. This confidence is based on data and/or models and is usually mapped on Common Risk Segment Maps (CRS Maps). High confidence in the presence of imperative geological factors

110-404: Is a potential trap which geologists believe may contain hydrocarbons. A significant amount of geological, structural and seismic investigation must first be completed to redefine the potential hydrocarbon drill location from a lead to a prospect. Four geological factors have to be present for a prospect to work and if any of them fail neither oil nor gas will be present. Hydrocarbon exploration

132-648: Is located in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico. BP is the operator and principal developer of the oil field with 90% of interest, the final 10% by MOEX Offshore 2007 , a unit of Mitsui . Originally, Anadarko Petroleum owned 25% stake but in October 2011 this was transferred to BP as a part of a wider settlement between the companies. The prospect may have held 50 million barrels (7.9 × 10 ^  m) producible reserves of oil. It

154-626: Is not a legal requirement. In Russia, companies report their reserves to the State Commission on Mineral Reserves (GKZ). GSF Development Driller II GSF Development Driller II is a fifth generation, Vanuatu - flagged dynamic positioning semi-submersible ultra-deepwater drilling rig owned and operated by Transocean . The vessel is capable of drilling in water depths up to 7,500 ft (2,300 m) with drilling depth of 35,000 ft (11,000 m), upgradeable to 37,500 ft (11,400 m). Development Driller II

176-477: Is usually coloured green and low confidence coloured red. Therefore, these maps are also called Traffic Light Maps, while the full procedure is often referred to as Play Fairway Analysis (PFA). The aim of such procedures is to force the geologist to objectively assess all different geological factors. Furthermore, it results in simple maps that can be understood by non-geologists and managers to base exploration decisions on. Petroleum resources are typically owned by

198-637: The Transocean Marianas semi-submersible rig commenced drilling, but operations were halted at 4,023 feet (1,226 m) below the sea floor on November 29, 2009, when the rig was damaged by Hurricane Ida . The Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig resumed drilling operations in February 2010. An explosion on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon occurred on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers. The Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010, in water approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) deep, and

220-540: The Earth). However, most exploration depends on highly sophisticated technology to detect and determine the extent of these deposits using exploration geophysics . Areas thought to contain hydrocarbons are initially subjected to a gravity survey , magnetic survey , passive seismic or regional seismic reflection surveys to detect large-scale features of the sub-surface geology. Features of interest (known as leads ) are subjected to more detailed seismic surveys which work on

242-665: The MC 252 was collected by Fugro Geoservices in 2003. BP purchased the mineral rights to drill for oil in the Macondo Prospect at the Minerals Management Service 's lease sale in March 2008. Mapping of the block was carried out by BP America in 2008 and 2009. BP secured approval to drill the Macondo Prospect from MMS in March 2009. An exploration well was scheduled to be drilled in 2009. On October 7, 2009

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264-516: The USA. Names in a given year or area might follow a theme such as beverages (e.g., Cognac), heavenly bodies (e.g., Mars ), or even cartoon characters (e.g., Bullwinkle ). The name Macondo had been the winning selection in a BP employee contest as part of an internal United Way campaign. It comes from the fictitious cursed town in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel García Márquez . The prospect

286-413: The existence of the prospect. Oil companies routinely assign code names to offshore prospects early in the exploration effort. This practice helps ensure secrecy during the confidential pre-sale phase, and later provides convenient names for casual reference rather than the often similar-sounding official lease names denoted by, for example, the Minerals Management Service in the case of federal waters in

308-570: The government of the host country. In the United States, most onshore (land) oil and gas rights (OGM) are owned by private individuals, in which case oil companies must negotiate terms for a lease of these rights with the individual who owns the OGM. Sometimes this is not the same person who owns the land surface. In most nations the government issues licences to explore, develop and produce its oil and gas resources, which are typically administered by

330-562: The main asset of an oil company. Booking is the process by which they are added to the balance sheet. In the United States, booking is done according to a set of rules developed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). The reserves of any company listed on the New York Stock Exchange have to be stated to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . Reported reserves may be audited by outside geologists, although this

352-491: The oil ministry. There are several different types of licence. Oil companies often operate in joint ventures to spread the risk; one of the companies in the partnership is designated the operator who actually supervises the work. Resources are hydrocarbons which may or may not be produced in the future. A resource number may be assigned to an undrilled prospect or an unappraised discovery. Appraisal by drilling additional delineation wells or acquiring extra seismic data will confirm

374-531: The operator must be reasonably certain that it will commence the project within a reasonable time. The term 1P is frequently used to denote proved reserves; 2P is the sum of proved and probable reserves; and 3P the sum of proved, probable, and possible reserves. The best estimate of recovery from committed projects is generally considered to be the 2P sum of proved and probable reserves. Note that these volumes only refer to currently justified projects or those projects already in development. Oil and gas reserves are

396-427: The principle of the time it takes for reflected sound waves to travel through matter (rock) of varying densities and using the process of depth conversion to create a profile of the substructure. Finally, when a prospect has been identified and evaluated and passes the oil company's selection criteria, an exploration well is drilled in an attempt to conclusively determine the presence or absence of oil or gas. Offshore

418-510: The risk can be reduced by using electromagnetic methods Oil exploration is an expensive, high-risk operation. Offshore and remote area exploration is generally only undertaken by very large corporations or national governments. Typical shallow shelf oil wells (e.g. North Sea ) cost US$ 10 – 30 million, while deep water wells can cost up to US$ 100 million plus. Hundreds of smaller companies search for onshore hydrocarbon deposits worldwide, with some wells costing as little as US$ 100,000. A prospect

440-891: The size of the field and lead to project sanction. At this point the relevant government body gives the oil company a production licence which enables the field to be developed. This is also the point at which oil reserves and gas reserves can be formally booked. Oil and gas reserves are defined as volumes that will be commercially recovered in the future. Reserves are separated into three categories: proved, probable, and possible. To be included in any reserves category, all commercial aspects must have been addressed, which includes government consent. Technical issues alone separate proved from unproved categories. All reserve estimates involve some degree of uncertainty. Proved oil and gas reserves are those quantities of oil and gas, which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible—from

462-445: Was located resting on the seafloor approximately 1,300 feet (400 m) (about a quarter of a mile) northwest of the well. Following the rig explosion and subsea blowout, BP started a relief well using Transocean's Development Driller III on May 2, 2010. The relief well would potentially take up to three months to drill. BP started a second relief well using Transocean's GSF Development Driller II on May 16, 2010. The well

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484-612: Was successfully sealed off from flow into the sea on August 4, 2010 by a "static kill" (injection of heavy fluids and cement into the wellhead at the mudline). To further ensure the plugging of the original well, the first relief well established communication with the original wellbore near total depth and injected heavy fluids and cement. Hydrocarbon exploration#Elements of a petroleum prospect Visible surface features such as oil seeps , natural gas seeps , pockmarks (underwater craters caused by escaping gas) provide basic evidence of hydrocarbon generation (be it shallow or deep in

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