Offshore oil and gas in the United States
Environmental concerns have prevented or restricted offshore drilling in some areas, and the issue has been hotly debated at the local and national levels.
From 1954 to 2023, federal offshore tracts produced 21.4 billion barrels (3.4×109 m3) of oil and 195 trillion cubic feet (5.5×1012 m3) of natural gas.
Despite some fluctuations due to new deep-water discoveries and technological advancements, offshore production continues to play a crucial role in the U.S. energy landscape.
The Gulf of Mexico remains a critical area for offshore production, housing several of the nation's largest oil fields.
Notable fields include Mars-Ursa, Thunder Horse, and Atlantis, which continue to contribute significantly to the country's oil reserves.
[1] The oil production in the offshore area owned by the federal government reached approximately 602 million barrels (96,000,000 m3) in 2023, reflecting a significant recovery and surpassing previous records.
However, the US Congress passed the Submerged Land Act in 1953, which recognized state ownership of the seabed within 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) of the shore.
[2] That same year Congress also passed the Outer Continental Shelf Act, which gave the federal government jurisdiction over minerals on and under the seabed farther offshore from state waters.
Exceptions include Texas and the west coast of Florida, which for historical reasons own the seabed out to 9 nautical miles (16.7 km) from the shore.
In the Goose Creek field along the coast in Harris County, Texas, so much oil was produced that the ground elevation sank ten or more feet, putting some privately owned oil-producing lands below sea level.
The Geneva Convention on the continental shelf in 1958 recognized the right of each nation to the mineral resources on its adjacent continental shelf, out to a water depth of 200 m. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation extending the US Exclusive Economic Zone to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shore.
[3] By virtue of the Law of the Sea, which the US has signed but not ratified, each nation controls an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its shore.
The US and Canada referred a dispute over the EEZ boundary in the Atlantic Ocean to the International Court of Justice, which decided the matter (see Georges Bank).
The oil and gas company offering the highest up-front payment to the government (called a bonus) wins the lease.
The government also receives a fixed annual rental based on the area for non-producing leases, and a percentage of the market value of any oil or gas produced and sold (royalty).
By Executive Order dated April 28, 2017, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will begin selling offshore leases in 2019.
Notable oil platforms include Baldpate, Bullwinkle, Mad Dog, Magnolia, Mars, Petronius, and Thunder Horse.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s oil companies drilled 51 exploratory wells on federal leases on the outer continental shelf of the Atlantic coast.
A 1996 study by the MMS estimated undiscovered conventionally recoverable resources in Atlantic federal waters to be 7.2 billion barrels (1.1×109 m3) of oil and 27.5 trillion cubic feet (7.8×1011 m3) gas.
[13] The Sunshine Mining Co. made Washington state’s first oil discovery in July 1957, at a location 1.4 miles south down the coast from Ocean City.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush issued an executive moratorium restricting federal offshore leasing to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Alaska.
[32] Offshore areas of the US may contain resources of sulfur, salt, sand and gravel, phosphate rock, manganese nodules, and heavy-mineral placer deposits.
To date, none of these has been produced for commercial purposes except sulfur and salt in the Gulf of Mexico, and gold in Alaskan state waters near Nome.
The MMS has allowed sand dredging in federal waters to restore damaged beaches in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida.
