The Mississippi Canyon is an undersea canyon, part of the Mississippi Submarine Valley in the North-central Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana. According to the U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Mapping Program, it is the dominant feature of the north-central Gulf of Mexico. According to GCAGS Transactions, it has an average width of , and a length of . The US Minerals Management Service (MMS) applies the name Mississippi Canyon to numbered federal oil and gas lease blocks over a large offshore area centered on, but mostly outside, the submarine canyon.
Oil and gas exploration and production According to "Deepwater Gulf of Mexico 2004: America's Expanding Frontier", a report issued by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, of the ten deepwater discoveries in water depths greater than 7,000 ft (2,134 m), three were in the Mississippi Canyon area: Aconcagua project, area/block MC305, deep; and Camden Hills project, MC348, deep, both discovered in 1999; and Blind Faith project, MC696, deep, discovered in 2001.. In a separate section of the same report, note is made of acreage in the Thunder Horse project, MC778, acquired in 1988. Other projects noted for Mississippi Canyon include Thunder Horse areas/blocks MC775-778 and MC819-822, listed as completed grid PEA (programmatic environmental assessment) by BP..
An MMS list of 80 development systems of productive deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects from 1979 to 2003 includes 29 projects in the Mississippi Canyon area:
Year of 1stProduction Project Name Operator Block WaterDepth ft. System Type1979 Cognac Shell MC194 1,023 Fixed Platform1984 Lena ExxonMobil MC280 1,000 Compliant Tower1991 Amberjack BP MC109 1,100 Fixed Platform1992 Alabaster ExxonMobil MC485 1,438 Subsea1993 Diamond Kerr McGee MC445 2,095 Subsea1993 Zink ExxonMobil MC354 1,478 Subsea1996 Mars Shell MC807 2,933 TLP/Subsea1997 Mensa Shell MC731 5,318 Subsea1999 Gemini ChevronTexaco MC292 3,393 Subsea1999 Pluto Mariner MC674 2,828 Subsea1999 Ursa Shell MC809 1,478 TLP2000 Europa Shell MC935 3,870 Subsea2000 King Shell MC764 3,250 Subsea2001 Crosby Shell MC899 4,440 Subsea2001 MC68 Walter MC68 1,360 Subsea2001 Mica ExxonMobil MC211 4,580 Subsea2002 Aconcagua TotalFinaElf MC305 7,100 Subsea2002 Camden Hills Marathon MC348 7,216 Subsea2002 Horn Mountain BP MC127 5,400 Spar2002 King BP MC84 5,000 Subsea2002 Princess Shell MC765 3,600 Subsea2003 East Anstey/Na Kika Shell MC607 6,590 FPS/Subsea2003 Fourier/Na Kika Shell MC522 6,950 FPS/Subsea2003 Goose Statoil MC751 1,624 Subsea2003 Herschel/Na Kika Shell MC520 6,739 FPS/Subsea2003 Matterhorn TotalFinaElf MC243 2,850 TLP2003 Medusa Murphy MC582 2,223 Spar2003 Pardner Anadarko MC401 1,139 Subsea2003 Zia Devon MC496 1,804 Subsea
Five of the top 20 deepwater Gulf of Mexico production blocks for 2000-01 were in the Mississippi Canyon, including the top 2: Project Mars, deep, of oil equivalent (BOE); project Ursa, deep, of BOE; project Mensa, , of BOE; Cognac, , of BOE; Crosby, , of BOE, all managed by Shell..
Deepwater Horizon explosion On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, located in the MMS Mississippi Canyon block 252, which is about off the Louisiana coast, suffered a catastrophic explosion; it sank a day-and-a-half later."Burning oil rig sinks, setting stage for spill; 11 still missing", by Kevin McGill and Holbrook Mohr (Associated Press), Boston Globe, April 23, 2010 Although initial reports indicated that relatively little oil had leaked, by April 27 it was stated by BP that approximately of oil per day were issuing from the wellhead, below the surface on the ocean floor."Well from sunken rig leaking oil", by Cain Burdeau (Associated Press), Boston Globe, April 25, 2010 The resulting oil slick quickly expanded to cover hundreds of square miles of ocean surface, posing a threat to marine life and adjacent coastal wetlands."Race to plug leaking oil well off La. spurs new tactics", by Cain Burdeau (Associated Press), Boston Globe, April 27, 2010 On June 10, the Flow Rate Group from the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center reported that they have determined that the estimated flow rate from the out of control well head has been to per day.
See also Offshore oil and gas in the US Gulf of Mexico
References
External links Gulf of Mexico GLORIA geology interpretation Page Contact Information: O'Malley, J., usgs.gov Formation of the Mississippi Canyon, GCAGS Transactions, Volume 32 (1982) (from Abstract) Coleman, J. M., D. B. Prior. Wonders of ocean life counted in massive census