Federal areas of OCS jurisdiction in the Gulf have 

 become increasingly important in recent years. Louisiana's 

 area of jurisdiction produced 97 percent of the oil and 31 

 percent of the gas in 1954 but its share declined to 11 per- 

 cent and 13 percent respectively, in 1975. The State of 

 Texas has fared somewhat better in this regard since its 

 area of jurisdiction extends 3 leagues (approximately 10 

 miles) from its shore instead of 3 miles like Louisiana's. 

 The Texas area of jurisdiction produced approximately 98 

 percent of the oil and 100 percent of the gas in the years 

 1954 through 1965, then dropped significantly. While vary- 

 ing since 1965, its 1975 share was 37 percent of the oil and 

 63 percent of the gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. 



Oil production in the Gulf peaked in 1972, and sulfur 

 and salt production peaked in 1968 as indicated in Table 1.4. 

 Total production of these minerals has declined since their 

 peaks. Although natural gas production peaked in Louisiana 

 in 1974, it has continued to rise overall due to the pro- 

 duction in offshore Texas, which has risen each year since 

 1972. Also, the variation of sulfur production since 

 its peak production year may reflect the current worldwide 

 oversupply of sulfur rather than a depletion of reserves . 



A total of 173 active and mobile rigs operated in the 

 Gulf of Mexico in 1976 (Table 1.5). Louisiana has the bulk 

 of these rigs and the Eugene Island area is the most active 

 with 14 fixed and 5 mobile rigs. The High Island area has the 

 most activity in the Texas OCS areas with 4 fixed and 11 mobile 

 ri B 3. 



