[ROCKMAN]

Even though many probably still don’t believe me, the oil patch has no serious complaints about President Obama's policies towards us. We also like the petroleum engineer/banker he just put in charge of the Interior Dept. From:

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp ... _id=126373

“Secretary Sally Jewell has hit the ground running. She held a press conference at the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference to introduce her and the department's agenda. "Our regulatory philosophy is to stay parallel with the industry as it develops, supporting our industry but making sure things are conducted in a safe manner," she said at the conference. Jewell jumpstarted her professional career with Mobil Oil Corp. as a petroleum engineer. She also spent 19 years as a commercial banker. "Part of my duties in this new position is to stay abreast of the technology that is moving forward fast, and how the department can do the best job possible in assisting the energy industry," she said.

She mentioned that while much of the Eastern Gulf is subject to a moratorium until 2022, Congress could choose to modify or eliminate the restriction. The area that is not available in upcoming lease sales is at least 125 miles off the Florida coast and is estimated to contain about 2/3 of the available oil and gas resources in the Eastern Gulf. "More seismic work needs to be conducted for that area," chimed in Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director James Watson. "Existing seismic data of that area is 30 years old, so new data is extremely important."

The BSEE estimates of undiscovered, economically recoverable resources for the Gulf of Mexico areas proposed for Environmental Impact Scoping are:
•Western GOM: 8-10 billion barrels of oil and 50-60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
•Central GOM: 25-28 billion barrels of oil and 100-130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
•Eastern GOM: approximately two-thirds of the 3-3.5 billion barrels of oil and 11-17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas”

FYI: “"Existing seismic data of that area is 30 years old, so new data is extremely important." This is true. And what’s also true is that the oil patch won’t spend $billions on new seismic in those areas until those areas are put on a leasing schedule. Did Mr. Watson just give us a little peak into the future?

[Tanada]

With 30 year old seismic data how reliable are those oil estimates for the Eastern GOM?

[careinke]

Does seismic data actually change after only 30 years? Or, is it a matter of better equipment, giving better resolution?

[ROCKMAN]

Actual huge improvement in 3d seis acquisition. In fact, it's often worthwhile to reprocess existing data every 4 or 5 years. Better programs and more powerful/cheaper computers