BP's 35,000ft well could produce 3bn barrels of oil - Telegraph

BP's 35,000ft well could produce 3bn barrels of oil - Telegraph: "The prospect, named Tiber, is believed to contain more than 3bn barrels of oil – making it a greater find than BP's Kaskida field in the region three years ago.

Sources close to BP said that within the next 10 to 15 years the Tiber and Kaskida finds could increase production by 50pc in the Gulf of Mexico."

Transocean, the US offshore rig company, said the Tiber well drilled more than 35,055 feet (10,685m) into the Earth about 250 miles south-east of Houston, Texas, was the deepest known well in the world.

BP currently produces 400,000 barrels per day from the Gulf of Mexico.

The area is particularly important to the Western oil majors because it is more accessible than fields in the Middle East or Russia.