January 2015, Vol. 242, No. 1

Projects

Studies Show Potential Of Untapped Offshore Areas

Studies by the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) show significant potential added energy and economic benefits to the United States if the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific outer continental shelf (OCS) were opened to offshore oil and natural gas development.

“The U.S. oil and gas industry is already a major source of jobs, economic activity, revenue to state and federal governments, and affordable and reliable American energy for American consumers,” said NOIA President Randall Luthi. “We can do much more of the same with more access to the OCS.”

All three areas – the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific OCS and the Atlantic OCS – are almost entirely off-limits to offshore oil and gas development but could be included in the federal government’s next five-year leasing program.

If the government begins holding lease sales in these regions in 2018, the studies show development in all three study areas – the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific OCS, and the Atlantic OCS – could, by 2035, create over 838,000 jobs annually and spur nearly $449 billion in new private sector spending.