50 Billion Barrels of Untapped Oil in the Gulf of Mexico

Approximately 200 miles from the continental coast line sits a wealth of new crude oil, and, with an estimated $100 million cost to drill each well in 10,000 feet of water, it's a heavy investment, even for the "Big Oil" companies.

BP, ChevronTexaco, Royal Dutch Shell, and Unocal all have major projects in the deepwater hot spot called "Perdido Foldbelt." ChevronTexaco recently set a deepwater drilling record, when it unsuccessfully tried to bring home the "Toledo" well in 10,011 feet of water.

Unocal recently discovered approximately 100 million barrels in its Perdido Foldbelt "Trident" well, but the company says it's not enough oil to justify putting the site into production.

Experts say Shell found oil in its deepwater site called "Great White," but the company isn't saying much about it. BP is producing oil in its "Na Kika" Gulf well, which is the deepest offshore production field in the world. BP is currently drilling in 9,500 feet of water.

Seismic technology is playing a big part in deep offshore exploration. ExxonMobil is currently testing a seismic technology that uses electromagnetic signals, which can detect actual oil, and not just the structures that could potentially hold oil and gas.

In 2006, the $1 billion Gulf of Mexico Mardi Gras pipeline comes on-line, which will have the ability to move more than 1 million barrels of crude oil and 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. The pipeline is in more than 7,000 feet of water, and will be the highest capacity deepwater system ever built.