Offshore
Mariner Energy is among the largest independent oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico. At year-end 2009, the company had interests in nearly 350 Federal offshore leases, with more than 110 of those in development.
Deepwater
Mariner has actively conducted exploration and development projects since 1996 in water depths ranging from 1,300 feet up to 7,100 feet. Employing our experienced geoscientists, robust seismic database, and extensive subsea tieback expertise, we have participated in more than 80 deepwater wells. Our deepwater exploration operation targets larger potential reserve accumulations than are generally accessible onshore or on the Gulf of Mexico shelf.
Shelf
On the Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, we drill or participate in conventional shelf wells and deep shelf wells extending to water depths up to 1,300 feet.
We significantly increased our shelf operations and effectively doubled our size with our 2006 acquisition of the Gulf of Mexico operations of Forest Oil Corporation.
We currently pursue a two-pronged strategy on the shelf, combining exploitation of our legacy asset base and active exploration activities targeting conventional and deep shelf opportunities. Given the mature nature of this area and the production declines characteristic of most wells in this region, the goal of our shallow water or shelf operation is to maximize cash flow for reinvestment in our deepwater and onshore operations, as well as for expansion into new operating areas.
