BP Discovers Huge Oil Store in Gulf of Mexico

Firm drills world's deepest oil well, finds 3B barrels

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 2, 2009 2:59 PM CDT

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BP Discovers Huge Oil Store in Gulf of Mexico — Tony Hayward, chief executive of European oil giant BP PLC , makes the opening remarks for Oil Day at CERAWeek 2009 Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

BP discovered a massive oil cache under the Gulf of Mexico after drilling the world’s deepest exploration well, Bloomberg reports. The discovery at Tiber Prospect may hold reserves equivalent to 3 billion barrels. In order to find it, BP engineers drilled to a total depth of 35,055 feet—taller than Mount Everest.

Although the find will take years to develop, it is expected to increase BP’s output in the Gulf by 50%, to 600,000 barrels a day after 2020. “What today’s announcement proves is that BP is a very, very successful explorer,” said an industry analyst. “They’ve opened up the whole area for discoveries.”
(More British Petroleum stories.)

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