probably be able to work year-round, while smaller semi's, drill ships, and 

 jack-up rigs might work seasonally. Exploratory semi -submersible rigs capable 

 of drilling in the Southeastern Georgia Embayment waters up to 300 feet 

 deep are currently working in the Gulf of Mexico and could easily be 

 moved to the new OCS region (5, p. 21). Drilling in the 1,000 foot depths 

 of the Blake Plateau will require development of structures and techniques 

 not yet in use in other offshore areas. 



Some exploratory drilling such as COST holes, may be undertaken by a 

 consortium of oil companies to determine the nature of the structure as earlier 

 indicated by geophysical data. Often, however, lease sales are held before 

 any drilling is completed in the projected geological structure, and bids 

 are based on information gathered from remote geophysical surveys. 



Estimates have been made that from 5 to 20 drilling rigs would be 

 operating simultaneously in exploratory phases following OCS Sale No. 40 - 

 Baltimore Canyon Trough (1, Vol. 11, p. 4). About five acres of coastal land 

 are required for logistic support for terminal operations, storage, and 

 technical support of each exploratory rig. Also estimates on the work force 

 complement required for 10 rigs have been placed at about 260 people, of 

 which about 220 would be rig crew members and would largely come from existing 

 Gulf operations. 



In the South Atlantic, it has been estimated that 5 to 10 explora- 

 tory rigs will be operating simultaneously (41). 

 4.3 LEASING 



The OCS Lease Sale No. 40 - Offshore of the Mid Atlantic States - took 

 place on August 17, 1976. Geophysical data are used as a basis for requesting 

 which blocks are put up by BLM for leasing. Also, interested parties such as 



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