Major U.S. oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico - Business - International Herald Tribune

Major U.S. oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico - Business - International Herald Tribune: "An announcement by three oil companies of a successful production test in the Gulf of Mexico, potentially the largest American oil find in a generation, was seen by experts as ushering in a new era in ultradeep-water offshore drilling.

Chevron, Devon Energy and Statoil, the Norwegian oil giant, said Tuesday that they had found 3 billion to 15 billion barrels in several fields 175 miles, or 282 kilometers, offshore.

They said the oil was 30,000 feet, or 9,144 meters, below the gulf's surface, among formations of rock and salt hundreds of feet thick."