U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Office of Public Affairs

NEWS RELEASE

New World Water-Depth Drilling Record Set in over 10,000 Feet of Water

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced that the oil and gas industry has set a new world record for water depth in drilling in the Gulf of Mexico at 10,011 feet of water.

According to MMS officials, Transocean Inc. and ChevronTexaco set the record when the Transocean drillship Discoverer Deep Seas spudded the well on November 16, 2003. The exploration well for oil and gas is being drilled in Alaminos Canyon Block 951 on ChevronTexaco’s Toledo prospect. It is the first time in the offshore drilling industry’s history that a drilling rig has explored for oil and natural gas in more than 10,000 feet of water.

The previous world water-depth drilling record was set in October 2001 in 9,727 feet of water in Alaminos Canyon Block 903 by another Transocean drillship, the Discoverer Spirit, working for Unocal.

MMS is the Federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters. The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian leases. These revenues totaled over $6 billion in 2002 and nearly $127 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

MMS Main Website:  www.mms.gov
Gulf of Mexico Website:  www.gomr.mms.gov

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