At the same time that its industry peers are touting the region's success, Norwegian energy company Statoil, said it made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Norwegian major announced it made an oil discovery in the Yeti prospect of the Gulf of Mexico.
"We are analyzing data to determine the size of the discovery in order to consider future appraisal options," Jez Averty, a vice president for regional exploration, said in a statement.
The discovery came as industry peer Hess Corp hosted U.S. lawmakers at its Tubular Bells oil and gas production facility in the Gulf of Mexico. Discovered in 2003, the field is expected to produce an average 32,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the year.
"Offshore energy production is vital to strengthening our national security, growing a healthy economy," Brian Truelove, an offshore vice president for Hess, said.
Hess, which described the Gulf of Mexico as a vital component of its portfolio, said Tubular Bells has created an estimated 7,000 direct and indirect jobs for some of the states bordering the region.
For Chevron, the December start of the 94,000-barrel-per-day Jack/St. Malo project and the February oil discovery at its Anchor prospect confirmed the importance of the region for the industry.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the Gulf of Mexico contributes about 18 percent of total U.S. oil production and 5 percent of total gas production.
The U.S. Interior Department in February released a draft proposal for 2017-22 for access to federal waters. Ten leases are planned for the Gulf of Mexico, three for offshore Alaska and one, a debut, for waters in the Atlantic.
