A Minerals Management Service report has found that drilling of Mobil Oil Corp.'s planned wildcat 45 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, would have only "temporary, local, and minor" environmental effects.
Plans for the test are blocked by a provision in the federal oil spill law signed Aug. 18 by President Bush (OGJ, Aug. 27, Newsletter). Bush vowed to try to repeal the provision.
MMS also found it would be unnecessary for the government to require Mobil to conduct a strict environmental monitoring program or dispose of drilling mud onshore.
Mobil proposed to drill a wildcat in 2,690 ft of water to test its Manteo prospect, a postulated 5 by 30 mile Upper Jurassic carbonate structure it estimates may contain as much as 5 tcf of dry gas.
North Carolina also opposed the project.
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