Introduction In many ways the US side of the Gulf of Mexico shows signs of a production basin at the end of life. Most of the sort historic of charts that would normally plotted – discoveries, drilling, active wells, active leases, leasing activity, natural gas production – show classic bell shapes, with current conditions on the tail; and yet oil production is still just about increasing, and the fall in remaining reserves has been reversed in recent years. Examples for some parameters are shown in the chart, and others in subsequent sections. (Note the units used for production, it was the only way to get everything on the same axis.) I think the main reason for this is that there are really several different plays which have come and are now mostly gone or going. Without getting into the complicated geology, which I […]