A story from earlier this month did not attract much attention, but is worth noting. Bryant Urstadt reported for Technology Review about a major discovery by oil firms Chevron, Devon, and Statoil based on new technology in sea level seismic data. The newly located reserve is in the Jack Field, about 250 miles south of New Orleans. It’s a big find.

The well sustained a flow rate of about 6,000 barrels a day, strong enough to encourage analysts to predict that the field may contain anywhere from three billion to fifteen billion barrels of oil, although the results of a second well test scheduled for 2007 will sharpen the accuracy of those figures considerably. If the higher-end estimate is correct, though, the discovery would approach Prudhoe Bay in size, and possibly increase total U.S. reserves by some 50 percent.

The new field is “sub-salt,” beneath a signal-scrambling salt layer that major computing advances have enabled us to penetrate and read more accurately than before. The consortium is still working out whether to bring it ashore via a fleet of shuttle tankers, or whether to go for an expensive, but high volume, pipeline. Apart from the role new technology has played, the other thing worth noting is that the new reserve of oil is not dependent on politically unstable or capricious governments; except the US, of course.

From Adam Smith Institute

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