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boby on March 16, 2006 - 6:13pm

In regards to the new Mexican oil find, a question:
Seems I read somewhere that oil could not exist in
a liquid state much below 15,000 and if hydrocarbons s
are found would be natural gas and NGL. If this
deposit is at 13,120 ft. below the earth's surface
and 3,117 ft. below the ocean surface, would this
not be well below 15,000 ft.? I seem to recall
that saltwater adds approx. .45 psi per foot of depth.

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LevinK on March 16, 2006 - 10:33pm

I think that the formation of NG vs oil depends mostly on the temperature at the depth, not pressure. Besides the water is 2 to 3 times lighter than the rocks, so 3117 ft of water would be equivelent to some 1500ft. of rock.

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Leanan on March 17, 2006 - 8:40am

Speaking of the new Mexican find...

Analysts Skeptical of Claims of a Large Mexican Oil Find

Analysts say they are skeptical of news this week from the Mexican state oil monopoly that exploratory drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico shows signs of a giant new oil field.
Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, says that early indications suggest that the field could be as large as 10 billion barrels. But analysts said that it was premature to make an estimate based on preliminary drilling.
"To me it's entirely speculative and hypothetical," said David Shields, an oil analyst and consultant in Mexico City.

Sounds like "political barrels" to me.

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123 comments on New Open thread

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