courtesy BHP
US Gulf output beats estimates
US Gulf of Mexico oil output may be approaching the projected 2011 level of 1.6 million barrels per day a year earlier than expected, a US Minerals Management Service official said today.
"There is chance that we may actually be approaching the 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) already," MMS Gulf Region Chief of Staff Mike Prendergrast told the Argus Crude Summit.
Citing rapid progress in deep-water offshore projects, Prendergrast said an agency review found that its 2008 forecast of 1.4 million bpd by this year was achieved in the first half of last year.
The MMS Gulf oil output forecast, which looks ahead a decade, is updated every two years, according to a Reuters report.
The last report was in 2008 for 2009-2018.
The 2010 report will cover 2011-2019.
It will debut at the Offshore Technology Conference later this year.
Operations in the Gulf account for about 15% of US domestically produced natural gas and 25% of domestically produced oil, the MMS said.
But gas production is in steep decline while oil output is rising, MMS said.
