459 



PETROLEUM 



By far, the most important of all marine resources is petroleum. 

 Although land exploration opportunities for petroleum have not been 

 exhausted, petroleum exploration and exploitation has invaded the 

 continental shelves at a rapid pace. Potentially important oil fields are 

 being discovered every year, and the nations of the world are investing 

 considerable capital in offshore ventures. 31 More than 85 countries are 

 engaged in offshore activities, and discoveries have been reported from 

 the shelves of North and South America, Australia, Japan, the Medi- 

 terranean countries, the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, the Union of 

 Soviet Socialist Republics and, most recently, in the North Sea and 

 the South China Sea. Thirty-two of these countries are already pro- 

 ducing petroleum from their continental shelves, which accounts for 

 16 per cent of the world's oil and 6 per cent of the world's natural gas. 

 It is expected that by 1980 this percentage will double or quadruple. 32 



The extent of petroleum deposits offshore cannot be determined, and 

 numerous estimates have been advanced. Proved reserves in the "free 

 world" are estimated to exceed 500 billion barrels of oil and nearly 1.5 

 million billion (quadrillion) cubic feet of gas. 33 It is believed that out 



31 A single lease sale of offshore tracts In the Santa Barbara Channel of California 

 brought the Department of the Interior over $600 million In February 1968, and In March 

 a similar amount was obtained from tracts off the' Gulf of Mexico shores. Altogether the 

 revenues for that fiscal year amounted to more than $1.5 billion. On December 15, 1970, 

 the Department of the Interior received some $850 million from oil companies in bids 

 for 127 underwater tracts off the Louisiana coast. A single tract brought a bid of more 

 than $38 million. 



BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 



OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF RECEIPTS FISCAL YEARS 1955 THROUGH 1967; 

 UPDATED THROUGH JAN. 31, 1968 



Bonuses rents 



141820 Royalties 142020 Escrow Total 



1955 $142,404,630.48 $12,217,134.37 $154,621,764.85 



1956 111,171,041.53 $52,814.63 26,518,518.78 137,742,374.94 



■(57,434,228.69) ' (1,656.94) 57,435,885.63 



1957 1,976,361.00 232,342.31 10,969,890.58 13,178,593.89 



1958 2,630,090.41 830,760.69 12,208,496.48 15,669,347.58 



1959 1,145,720.00 2,266,484.40 20,418,121.35 23,830,325.75 



1960 _■ 226,616,838.22 2,839,980.97 172,265,367.50 401,722,186.69 



1961 1,716,161.23 5,588,525.60 43,762,875.15 51,067,561.98 



1962_ 6,006.921.00 5,605,230.15 498,586,287.97 510,198.439.12 



1963 359,370,525.43 7,443,921.55 (229,540,465.57) 137,273,981.41 



1964 5,870,970.00 10,620,439.52 135,904,544.80 152,395,954.32 



1965. 42,223,700.64 11,246,201.92 89,032,099.84 142,502,002.40 



1966 161,893,155.47 86,424,061.11 (39,552,372.76) 208,764,843.82 



1967 596,202,951.97 41,107,770.26 148,129,983.44 785,440,705.67 



Through Jan. 31. 1968 204,629,546.95 30,372,670.78 69,539,020.62 304,541,238.35 



Total 1,807,807,657.66 204,629,546.95 1,027,895,388.18 3,038,949,320.77 



1 GAO adjustment taken from general fund and placed in escrow. 



Note: Does not include California sale of Feb. 6, 1968, of $602,719,621.60 bonus and 1st year rental of $1,089,543 



32 Industry experts predict that world production of offshore petroleum will exceed 20 

 million barrels per day, compared with today's 6.5 million. The present USSR offshore pro- 

 duction exceeds 90 million barrels a year, less than 4 percent of that country's total 

 output. In Moody's September 21, 1970, "Stock Survey" oil and gas produced from offshore 

 wells are predicted to quadruple by 1980. 



33 Oil and Gas Journal (December 29, 1969), page 95. Proved crude reserves for the 

 "free world" for the year 1967 were shown to exceed 525 billion barrels. (Oil and Gas 

 Journal (May 6, 1968), page 77.) 



