We knew there was oil under the Gulf of Mexico long before we drilled for it. So much of it bubbled to the surface about 10 miles south of Sabine Pass that schooner captains called the area the “Oil Ponds.” That was in the 1880s, more than 150 years before Kerr-McGee’s first bit turned beneath the water. But, even then, there was speculation about whether a well could be drilled in the Gulf. “Th…