| Macondo field | |
|---|---|
  Location of Macondo field | |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Gulf of Mexico |
| Location | Mississippi Canyon |
| Block | 252 |
| Offshore/onshore | offshore |
| Coordinates | 28°44′17″N88°21′57″W / 28.7381°N 88.3658°W /28.7381; -88.3658 |
| Operator | BP |
| Partners | BP (90%) MOEX Offshore 2007 (10%) |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 2010 |
| Production | |
| Estimated oil in place | 50 million barrels (~6.8×10 |
TheMacondo Prospect (Mississippi Canyon Block 252, abbreviatedMC252) is an oil and gasprospect in the United StatesExclusive Economic Zone of theGulf of Mexico, off the coast ofLouisiana. The prospect was the site of theDeepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 that led to a major oil spill in the region from the first exploration well, named itself MC252-1 (nicknamed also Macondo-1), which had been designed to investigate the existence of the prospect.
Oil companies routinely assign code names to offshore prospects early in the exploration effort. This practice helps ensure secrecy during the confidential pre-sale phase, and later provides convenient names for casual reference rather than the often similar-sounding official lease names denoted by, for example, theMinerals Management Service in the case of federal waters in the USA. Names in a given year or area might follow a theme such as beverages (e.g., Cognac), heavenly bodies (e.g.,Mars), or even cartoon characters (e.g.,Bullwinkle).
The name Macondo had been the winning selection in aBP employee contest as part of an internalUnited Way campaign.[1] It comes from the fictitious cursed town in the novelOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian Nobel Prize-winning writerGabriel García Márquez.[2]
The prospect is located inMississippi Canyon Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico.BP is the operator and principal developer of the oil field with 90% of interest, the final 10% byMOEX Offshore 2007, a unit ofMitsui.[3][4] Originally,Anadarko Petroleum owned 25% stake but in October 2011 this was transferred to BP as a part of a wider settlement between the companies.[4] The prospect may have held 50 million barrels (7.9×10^6 m3) producible reserves of oil.[5] It is 41 miles (66 km) offshore[citation needed] and 130 miles (210 km) from New Orleans.[6]
Thegeological formation targeted by the well was hydrocarbon-bearing "mid-"Mioceneturbiditic sands. The depth of the formation was estimated between 4000 and 4500 m below the sea floor.[citation needed]
In 1998, a regional shallow hazards survey and study was carried out at the Macondo area byKC Offshore. High resolution, 2D seismic data along with 3D exploration seismic data of the MC 252 was collected byFugro Geoservices in 2003. BP purchased the mineral rights to drill for oil in the Macondo Prospect at theMinerals Management Service's lease sale in March 2008.[7]
Mapping of the block was carried out by BP America in 2008 and 2009.[8] BP secured approval to drill the Macondo Prospect from MMS in March 2009. An exploration well was scheduled to be drilled in 2009.[3]
On October 7, 2009, theTransocean Marianassemi-submersible rig commenced drilling, but operations were halted at 4,023 feet (1,226 m) below the sea floor on November 29, 2009, when the rig was damaged byHurricane Ida.[9] TheTransoceanDeepwater Horizon rig resumed drilling operations in February 2010.[3]
An explosion on the drilling rigDeepwater Horizon occurred on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers. TheDeepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010, in water approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) deep, and was located resting on theseafloor approximately 1,300 feet (400 m) (about a quarter of a mile) northwest of the well.[10][11][12]
Following the rig explosion and subsea blowout, BP started a relief well usingTransocean'sDevelopment Driller III on May 2, 2010. The relief well would potentially take up to three months to drill. BP started a second relief well using Transocean'sGSF Development Driller II on May 16, 2010.[13]
The well was successfully sealed off from flow into the sea on August 4, 2010, by a "static kill" (injection of heavy fluids and cement into thewellhead at the mudline).[citation needed] To further ensure the plugging of the original well, the first relief well established communication with the original wellbore near total depth and injected heavy fluids and cement.[citation needed]
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