Deepwater Frontiers: Gulf of Mexico to Brazilian Pre-Salt

Deepwater oil moved far offshore in the 1990s and 2000s. Thunder Horse in the Gulf of Mexico sits under 1,800 m of water, and Brazilian pre-salt finds drilled through 2,000 m of water plus 5,000 m of rock and salt.

FPSO vessels made remote production possible without pipelines. Brazilian fields like Lula and Buzios now pump over 2 million barrels per day combined.

West Africa, from Angola to Ghana, built a deepwater corridor on the same template..