Macondo Prospect facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Macondo field |
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| Country | United States |
| Region | Gulf of Mexico |
| Location | Mississippi Canyon |
| Block | 252 |
| Offshore/onshore | offshore |
| Coordinates | 28°44′12″N 88°23′13″W / 28.736667°N 88.386944°W |
| Operator | BP |
| Partners | BP (90%) MOEX Offshore 2007 (10%) |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 2010 |
| Production | |
| Estimated oil in place | 50 million barrels (~6.8×106 t) |
The Macondo Prospect (also known as Mississippi Canyon Block 252 or MC252) is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where companies look for oil and natural gas. It's located off the coast of Louisiana in the United States. This area became well-known because of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010. This accident led to a huge oil spill from the first well drilled there, which was called MC252-1 or Macondo-1.
Contents
What is the Macondo Prospect?
The Macondo Prospect is a specific place in the ocean where geologists believed there might be oil and gas trapped deep underground. Oil companies explore these "prospects" to see if they can find enough oil or gas to make it worth drilling for. The Macondo Prospect was expected to hold about 50 million barrels of oil.
Where is Macondo Located?
The Macondo Prospect is found in a part of the Gulf of Mexico called Mississippi Canyon Block 252. It's about 41 miles (66 km) offshore and 130 miles (209 km) from the city of New Orleans.
The company BP was the main operator of this oil field, owning 90% of the project. The remaining 10% was owned by MOEX Offshore 2007, which is part of the Japanese company Mitsui.
How Did Macondo Get its Name?
Oil companies often give special code names to their offshore exploration areas. This helps keep their plans secret before they buy the rights to drill. It also gives them easy names to use instead of long official ones. Sometimes these names follow a theme, like drinks, planets, or even cartoon characters.
The name Macondo was chosen in a contest for BP employees. It comes from a made-up town in the famous book One Hundred Years of Solitude by writer Gabriel García Márquez.
Exploring for Oil at Macondo
Before drilling, companies do a lot of research. In 1998, a survey was done to check for any shallow dangers in the Macondo area. Then, in 2003, detailed maps of the seafloor and underground layers were made using special sound waves (seismic data).
BP bought the rights to drill for oil in the Macondo Prospect in March 2008. They got approval to start drilling in March 2009.
Drilling began on October 7, 2009, using a rig called the Transocean Marianas. However, work stopped on November 29, 2009, because Hurricane Ida damaged the rig. Another rig, the Deepwater Horizon, took over the drilling in February 2010.
The Deepwater Horizon Explosion
On April 20, 2010, there was a terrible explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Eleven workers sadly lost their lives. Two days later, on April 22, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig sank into the ocean, about 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) deep. It landed about a quarter of a mile (400 meters) away from the well it had been drilling.
After the explosion, oil started leaking from the well deep underwater. To stop the leak, BP began drilling "relief wells." These are new wells drilled to connect with the original damaged well and pump heavy fluids and cement into it to seal it off. The first relief well started on May 2, 2010, and a second one began on May 16, 2010.
The Macondo well was finally sealed on August 4, 2010, using a method called "static kill." This involved injecting heavy fluids and cement into the well from the top. To make sure it was completely sealed, the first relief well also injected cement into the original wellbore from deeper down.
See also
- List of oil spills
- Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico
