Deepwater Gulf of Mexico 2005

Since the first major deepwater leasing boom in 1995-1996, we have entered into a sustained, robust expansion of activity. As of March 2005, there were 111 deepwater hydrocarbon production projects on line. Production from deepwater grew to an estimated 922 thousand barrels of oil per day and 3.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by the end of 2004. This was a meteoric rise of 510 percent and 680 percent for oil and gas, respectively, since 1995. The increase would have been even greater if not for shut-in production caused by Hurricane Ivan.