It is expected that new OCS oil and gas sources would somewhat reduce imports 

 of Middle East crude, or at least make up the difference between present im- 

 port levels and higher future demand. 



If production from the Baltimore Canyon is low, then the oil is likely 

 to be transported by tanker and processed in existing or expanded refineries 

 in the industrial belt between Wilmington, Delaware and New York City. Al- 

 though local environmental impacts may result from refinery expansion, the 

 onshore impacts of low Baltimore Canyon production would be little noticed 

 either positively or negatively. However, if oil production is high, it is 

 likely that new refinery capacity would be required either in the form of 

 expanded existing refineries or newly constructed refineries, (21, p. 131). 

 Existing refineries are shown in Figure 5, and their capacities are given 

 below: (28, Vol .3, p. 65). 



For the South Atlantic area, production of petroleum and petrochemical 

 products is negligible in the 30-county coastal area and in the entire 

 four-state area. 



29 



