More than five miles beneath the seabed in the gulf, a Transocean drillship confirms a new oil discovery. That’s the word from the two British oil giants at the heart of the discovery.
The well is located about 80 miles south of New Orleans. It’s described as high-quality oil in one of the gulf’s most promising deepwater formations. As Louisiana Public Radio’s Coastal Desk reports, it’s part of a renewed push for offshore drilling in a part of the Gulf referred to as Deepwater.
The find, announced by Shell and INEOS, comes more than two weeks after the Trump administration held its first of 30 offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. That covers about 80 million acres of federal waters.
Some of the sites lie in waters that have gone untapped because of extreme depths and high water pressure. In the area of the newly-found Shell site, depths range from 5,000 to more than 7,000 feet.
The first round of bids in offshore lease sales drew more than $300 million for the federal government, with BP as the highest bidder. One of the president’s very first actions, after taking office on January 20, 2025, was the signing of the “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order, which included his repeated campaign promise of increasing offshore drilling, with the mantra of “drill baby, drill!”
Anyone doubting the critical nature of the offshore oil and gas drilling industry in the Gulf of Mexico, for the state of Louisiana, need look no further than December 9, 2025, for confirmation of the highest order. On that day, Governor Jeff Landry proclaimed it “Gulf Coast Energy Day” in Louisiana.
Landry, and others, including industry leaders, took that moment to recognize what they called, “the enduring contributions of Louisiana’s energy workers, companies, and communities and underscoring the sector’s role in powering the nation and strengthening America’s energy security.”
The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) commissioned economist Stephen Barnes, Ph.D., to conduct an economic impact study on the state’s energy industry. The report, released in April 2025, reveals that the energy sector generates 25% of Louisiana’s economy, 15% of total state employment, 19% of total earnings and supporting up to 31% of local property taxes.
