BP Announces Major Ocean Oil Discovery

Transocean, which leased the offshore rig to BP, said it was the deepest-ever well drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. The prospect site is 250 miles SW of Houston under 4,132 feet of water.

BP indicated that appraisals will need to be run to determine the size and commercial potential of the discovery. Once determined, BP will, based on past history, be able to recover about 25 - 40% of the oil.

In reality, that is actually quite sad, and perhaps is part of the "drill baby, drill" concept that conversatives seem to like. Rather than conserving oil, the GOP would prefer to just drill everywhere, and hope that advances in oil extraction will allow more oil to be recovered for current fields.

It's indeed a possibility, that companies like BP and others will come up with solutions in that space, but, of course, that won't fix issues with global warming. Andy Inglis, head of the company's exploration and production division said, in a statement, "These material discoveries together with our industry leading acreage position support the continuing growth of our deepwater Gulf of Mexico business into the second half of the next decade."