BP's Tiber prospect well in the Keathley Canyon further out in the gulf was drilled to a depth of
35,055 feet. The well head is
4,132 feet deep water. It potentially contains reserves of three billion barrels. Not that this is likely, but if a pool of oil that large were to escape at 20,000 barrels per day, it could keep spewing crude for
411 years. It was drilled by the Deepwater Horizon. Further appraisal drillings have been delayed by the massive spill in progress. I would say that BP is not likely to pack up and go home no matter what they end up paying out. Three billion barrels at today's crude prices is about
$219,000,000,000.00BP Gulf Oil Find May Hold 3 Billion Barrels
Type: New Discovery
Sep. 2009 - BP announced a major discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels of crude oil, making it among the biggest finds ever in the region. The company's Tiber prospect was discovered after BP drilled a well to a depth of 35,055 feet (10,685 meters)--which BP calls a record for the oil and gas industry--in a deep water site known as Keathley Canyon about 250 miles (402 kilometers) southeast of Houston. The well marks the latest major discovery in an outer region of the U.S. Gulf referred to as the Lower Tertiary trend, which is thought to hold massive undiscovered oil reserves. The initial well was drilled by Transocean's Deepwater Horizon. BP is still evaluating plans for additional appraisal wells.http://www.subseaiq.com/data/Project.aspx?project_id=526&field_Id=452