panies with nearby blocks, such as 

 Mobil, Amerada Hess and Marathon, 

 are expected to share in the well's es- 

 timated $20 million price tag and in 

 the geologic information gleaned from 

 exploration. But falling worldwide oil 

 prices have left oil companies hesitant 

 to gamble on exploration, Woodard 

 says. "Our partners say, let's wait and 

 see how things go," Woodard says. 

 "But we (Chevron) would like to go 

 ahead and drill this year." 



Chevron had planned to drill with 

 the Sedco 472, a top-of-the-line drill 

 ship designed especially for deep-water 

 exploration. But with the drill date be- 

 ing uncertain, those plans were can- 

 celled, Woodard says. Chevron con- 

 tracts with drilling companies to do ex- 

 ploratory work and the final choice of 

 vessel depends on availability when 

 the drilling time comes. 



When the drill date is set, Chevron 

 is expected to use a drill ship or 

 semisubmersible. Woodard says the 

 proximity of the Gulf Stream with its 

 accompanying strong currents and the 

 deep waters of the drill site will require 

 sophisicated drilling equipment. Deep- 

 water sites, such as those off North 

 Carolina's coast, are not conducive to 

 the more conventional drilling rigs 

 used in the Gulf, which sit on the ocean 

 floor. 



Chevron's proposed exploratory well 

 will be drilled in a water depth of 2,132 

 feet, not a particularly challenging 

 depth for oil exploration technology. 

 Wells have been drilled in water 

 depths over 6,000 feet off the French 

 coast. And plans call for the drilling 

 vessel to drill to a depth of 20,000 feet 

 below the ocean floor, a standard 

 depth for exploratory wells. The com- 

 pany estimates it will take 144 days to 

 complete the exploration. 



But before the first drill bit can 

 burrow into the ocean floor, Chevron 

 must obtain permits and plan- 

 approvals that meet with state and 

 federal regulations. Chevron has 

 already received an Army Corps of 

 Engineers permit that ensures the 

 placement of a drill ship does not inter- 

 fere with navigation or national 

 security, and an Environmental 

 Protection Agency discharge permit 

 allowing effluent discharges into sur- 

 rounding waters. 



Chevron must also file an explora- 

 tion plan and environmental report 

 with the state. The Outer Continental 

 Shelf Task Force reviews the plans to 



see if they are consistent with the 

 state's coastal management plan. Both 

 the governor and the state Office of 

 Coastal Zone Management comment 

 on the plans based on the task force 

 review, says Eric Vernon, coordinator 

 of the task force. The governor makes 

 his comments to the U.S. Dept. of In- 

 terior's Minerals Management Service, 

 while the Office of Coastal Zone 

 Management makes its comments to 

 the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, Vernon says. 



Courtesy of Texaco Inc. 



Se m i - sub me r sib le rig being 

 towed to a site in the North Sea 



Chevron's plans have already met with 

 the state's approval. 



Chevron has also completed a six- 

 month currents study. On a case-by- 

 case basis, the Minerals Management 

 Service is asking oil companies, which 

 plan to drill along the South Atlantic 

 coast, to complete a currents study, 

 says Guido De Horatiis, team leader 

 for the Mid-Atlantic District of the 

 Minerals Management Service. The 

 proximity of the Gulf Stream along 

 with surrounding deep waters meant 

 some extra engineering precautions 

 might be needed, says De Horatiis. 



The final step Chevron must com- 

 plete before drilling is approval of a 

 permit to drill from the Minerals 

 Management Service. To satisfy one of 

 the requirements for the permit to 

 drill, Chevron must have an oil spill 

 contingency plan that meets with U.S. 

 Coast Guard approval. Chevron must 



prove to the Coast Guard that it has 

 the capability, both mechanically and 

 with trained personnel, to deploy its oil 

 spill cleanup equipment quickly and 

 efficiently. Chevron's oil contingency 

 plan has not yet been approved, says 

 De Horatiis. 



Federal standards also require 

 Chevron to perform an oil spill drill 

 that will demonstrate their oil spill 

 cleanup capabilities. De Horatiis says 

 Chevron plans to complete its 

 demonstration at the drill site during 

 some preliminary work. 



The Minerals Management Service 

 is requesting some additional informa- 

 tion from Chevron before it makes its 

 final review of their permit-to-drill re- 

 quest in early March, De Horatiis 

 says. 



When all its permits are in a row, 

 Chevron need only choose a drill date 

 and drilling vessel before setting up 

 shop along the state's outer continen- 

 tal shelf. And except for occasional 

 helicopters whirling overhead, coastal 

 residents and visitors will never know 

 Chevron is drilling, Woodard says. 

 The curvature of the earth will prevent 

 beachgoers from seeing the drilling 

 vessel, and Woodard says that no oil or 

 gas burn-offs will cloud the sky. 



And Chevron isn't the only oil com- 

 pany preparing to drill. Arco Oil and 

 Gas Co., a subsidiary of Atlantic 

 Richfield Company, has begun the 

 permitting process for drilling on 

 Block 709 or 710 in Tract 28, which it 

 bought along with Murphy Oil Corp. 

 and Odeco Oil and Gas Co. for over $2 

 million. Their exploration plan and en- 

 vironmental report has already met 

 with state approval, Vernon says. 

 Their plans call for using the Aleutian 

 Key, another drill ship, for explora- 

 tion. 



But they lack some necessary 

 federal permits. "They have not ap- 

 plied for their permit to drill and are 

 still working on their currents study," 

 De Horatiis says. 



Wally Worthington, offshore dis- 

 trict drilling engineer for Arco, says it 

 will be 1984 before Arco begins drilling 

 off North Carolina "unless Chevron 

 gets started and makes a discovery." 



But nothing is certain when it comes 

 to oil companies, drill ships and 

 schedules, says a spokesman in the oil 

 industry. "What we say today could 

 be different tomorrow," she says. 

 "Things are always changing." 



—Kathy Hart 



