[HoHum]

Found this article from wired:$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')iegele has reason to be giddy. He works for Chevron, and his team is sitting on several new record-breaking discoveries in the Gulf, a region that many geologists believe may have more untapped oil reserves than any other part of the world.
... The mother lode of oil in the deepwater Gulf is so significant that Tahiti and other successful fields in this region are expected to soon produce enough crude to reverse the long-standing decline in US oil production of about 10 percent per year.
... But Siegele is hardly worried. Technological breakthroughs have, decade after decade, revived the perpetually doomed oil industry. "Predicting peak oil," Siegele tells me as we tour the drilling floor of the Cajun Express, "is almost like predicting peak technology" — an exercise, in other words, that to him seems inherently small-minded. Even absurd.

[emersonbiggins]

Did not know this (emphasis mine):
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he mother lode of oil in the deepwater Gulf is so significant that Tahiti and other successful fields in this region are expected to soon produce enough crude to reverse the long-standing decline in US oil production of about 10 percent per year.

[joewp]

This whole article is just feel-good, cornucopian pablum. It makes several mistakes, not the least of which is the US oil production decline. It's about 2% a year for the last decade or so, not 10%. The author must have had a bad phone connection. Also, there's no way the Jack complex will "reverse the long standing decline" any more than North Slope did.

The author does make an excellent case for the concept that the cheap, and even the medium priced oil is gone, even if he doesn't mean to.

[RdSnt]

Anybody remember Thunderhorse? You know the rig over very deep reservoirs, that was scheduled to start pumping 2005? The one that almost sunk and is still encountering technical problems that continually push back start-up. Now out to 2009-10.

[Twilight]

Let me guess, they are doing it "not because it is easy, but because it is hard"?

We have gone from a wooden derrick to that in 150 years?

From poking at some tar in a desert to that in 60 years?

And there is not a problem?

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Twilight', 'L')et me guess, they are doing it "not because it is easy, but because it is hard"?

We have gone from a wooden derrick to that in 150 years?

From poking at some tar in a desert to that in 60 years?

And there is not a problem?

[Laughs_Last]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RdSnt', 'A')nybody remember Thunderhorse? You know the rig over very deep reservoirs, that was scheduled to start pumping 2005? The one that almost sunk and is still encountering technical problems that continually push back start-up. Now out to 2009-10.

[NeoPeasant]

I cant help wondering what fraction of a barrel of oil's energy does it take just to lift a barrel of oil 5 miles?

[TreebeardsUncle]

Well, the offshore drillers stock has been doing well.

See

Link
for example for a plot of Noble's and Transocean's share prices for the past year.
g

[sirrom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NeoPeasant', 'I') cant help wondering what fraction of a barrel of oil's energy does it take just to lift a barrel of oil 5 miles?

[Offshore]

Cajun Express = Transocean for the win.

[RonMN]

Pstarr...if i read you correctly, you're saying it takes 1/500th of a barrel of oil (energy equivelant) to lift 1 barrel of oil 5 miles...

Correct?

[RdSnt]

Sorry PStarr but even if your figures were correct they are pretty much meaningless.
You need to account for the weight of the oil in the whole length of the pipe. You need to account for fiction as well as constraints at each valve. Plus you need to factor in the energy required to manage the intense pressures at depth, as well as the temperature differentials from depth to surface.

[Laughs_Last]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RdSnt', 'S')orry PStarr but even if your figures were correct they are pretty much meaningless.
You need to account for the weight of the oil in the whole length of the pipe. You need to account for fiction as well as constraints at each valve. Plus you need to factor in the energy required to manage the intense pressures at depth, as well as the temperature differentials from depth to surface.

[RdSnt]

I'll work at it from a different angle.
The Canjun Express has 6 Cat 3616 diesel engines, plus 6 Kato engines.

Each Cat burns about 370gal. of diesel per hour which is equivalent to roughly 4.1mwh/hour. So 6 engines consume about 25mw/hour of energy.
Lets assume, if and when they figure out how to pump oil from that depth successfully, that they get a rate of 50,000 barrels/day, 2083 barrels/hour. Roughly 3542 mwh equivalent of crude oil pumped per hour, to the well head.
So , 1mwh of refined diesel fuel for each 141 mwh of crude oil pumped to the well head per hour.
That's of course a paper calculation that doesn't account for inherent inefficiencies. I've emphasized that this is just to the well head, you still have a long ways to go to shore, then off course you need to refine it.
There isn't an account for the energy expended to get the diesel fuel to the platform.
And of course, Chevron will likely discover that the whole project is a dead loss and so will the energy expended in learning that.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RdSnt', 'S')orry PStarr but even if your figures were correct they are pretty much meaningless.
You need to account for the weight of the oil in the whole length of the pipe. You need to account for fiction as well as constraints at each valve. Plus you need to factor in the energy required to manage the intense pressures at depth, as well as the temperature differentials from depth to surface.

[cudabachi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RdSnt', 'S')orry PStarr but even if your figures were correct they are pretty much meaningless.
You need to account for the weight of the oil in the whole length of the pipe. You need to account for fiction as well as constraints at each valve. Plus you need to factor in the energy required to manage the intense pressures at depth, as well as the temperature differentials from depth to surface.

[Lokutus]

{thread merged. FWIW, a search for the title of the article brought this thread right up. -emersonbiggins}

http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/magazi ... ntPage=all

I have tried to use search to find a mention of this article here on po.com but nothing comes up.

Anyone know of a discussion?