THE VENERABLE WILCOX: WAIT FOR IT

摘要

Whither the Wilcox? It's a geologic for-mation that has brought fame to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, notoriety to the ultra-deep shelf, and hope for a revival onshore along the upper Gulf Coast through the promise of horizontal drilling and multistage fracturing. As this spectrum of activity suggests, the Wilcox is a multifaceted—and multidimensional—tight-sands resource play that is challenging the technical capability of the modern oil and gas industry. Tools to exploit Wilcox targets range from state-of-the-art ultra-deep-water rigs (UDW) working in 7,800 feet of water, to high-spec jack-ups probing high-temperature, high-pressure formations as deep as 32,000 feet, to beefed up deep-drilling land rigs. Operators are seeking their slice of the tight-sands pie across a geographic province that stretches into the deepwater 300 miles south of central Louisiana, and west along the upper Gulf Coast into Texas.