The Globe and Mail

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BP announces ‘giant’ oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico
The Globe and Mail

BP has made another “giant” oil discovery in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, confirming the region’s growing importance in the North America energy picture and providing further incentive for international oil companies to invest there.

The British major, the largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico, said Wednesday it made a major discovery at its Tiber project, about 400 kilometres offshore from Houston, a find that could rival the biggest producers in the region offshore the United States.

The company said the Tiber find appears to be comparable to its largest fields in the Gulf, which hold as much as three billion barrels of oil each.

With the shallow waters of the Gulf well-explored, oil companies have been moving into deeper water, increasing the stakes for each multimillion-dollar well drilled. The Tiber discovery was located in 1,259 metres of water, with a total well depth of 10,685 metres, which BP believes is the deepest ever drilled.

But for international oil companies, the Gulf of Mexico offers a stable political environment and attractive tax structure, at a time when foreign governments are limiting their access to the most promising new fields. BP is the biggest producer in the Gulf of Mexico.