marina near Slaughter Beach, Delaware, to be used as a support facility for 

 drilling activities in the Baltimore Canyon. A large industrial area in 

 Lewes, Delaware is also being mentioned as a large support facility for crew 

 and work boats (27). A number of potential sites for refineries have been 

 identified during the past decade, many of which have met with local oppo- 

 sition (Shell in Delaware is one good example). A large find might act as 

 a stimulus to further interest in locating refineries in this coastal region. 



In the South Atlantic, due to the later proposed lease sale (late in 

 1977), less onshore activity has been planned for than in the Mid Atlantic 

 area. Large ports such as Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Car- 

 olina; Georgetown, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Jacksonville, 

 Florida, all have many of the facilities required to support offshore ac- 

 tivity. The types of facilities needed will depend on where oil (or gas) 

 is found, the reserves, and the economic restraints associated with their 

 extraction and distribution. If a large discovery is made in this region, 

 it is likely that new distribution networks and refineries would be built 

 as explained in the next section. 

 4.6 PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION 



The Mid Atlantic region is one of the most densely populated and indus- 

 trialized areas in the country. This region contains nearly all of the 1.6 

 million barrels per day refining capacity now located on the U.S. east coast. 

 Potential oil and gas production from the Baltimore Canyon would provide 

 about 10 percent of regional oil and natural gas requirements by 1985 (assum- 

 ing medium demand and average production) (13). This would represent 

 an important contribution to the region's energy needs but would not substan- 

 tially offset the expanded need for supplemental energy supplies in the region. 



28 



