Have you ever wondered where those offshore field names come from?

Offshore oil and gas fields often have unusual names like Na Kika, Popeye, Stampede and Thunderhorse. The use of such names comes from the secrecy surrounding the bidding process for leases. When the US Department of the Interior identifies leases for an upcoming round of bidding, each oil company creates a "theme" for the sale, such as cartoon characters. Each offshore block that the company wants to bid on is given a name from the theme, such as Popeye. Only a very few people know exactly where the field is. Everyone else only knows its code name to hide its location from other companies. By the way, Na Kika is the octopus god of the Gilbert Islands.

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