BP said the Gila prospect in the Gulf of Mexico produced a “significant” discovery, capping the most successful year for exploration since 2004 for Europe’s second-biggest oil company. Gila, co-owned with ConocoPhillips, was found in the Paleogene trend, the same layer of rock as the Kaskida discovery in 2006 and Tiber in 2009. The well was drilled under 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) of water about 300 miles (480 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans. More drilling will be needed to determine the size of the Gila find, BP said. Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley pledged to focus more on exploration to help return the company to growth following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Gila is the seventh discovery from 15 exploration wells completed this year and follows potentially commercial finds in India, Egypt, Angola and Brazil. “Exploration is at the heart of BP’s upstream strategy,” Lamar […]