The MAFLA area of the Gulf had interested oil prospectors 

 since the late 1960's with the Destin Dome area (about 50 miles 

 southwest of Panama City, Florida) being the focus of attention. 

 In August, 1970, an onshore discovery, the Jay Field in the 

 Florida panhandle, gave further impetus to offshore exploration 

 and the first lease sale in the area was held in December of 

 1973. The sale was dominated by the Destin Dome area. Approxi- 

 mately 42% of the winning bid values were for six tracts of the 

 dome, including the two highest bids ever made at an offshore 

 lease sale anywhere in the world ( Offshore , 1975: 47-48). How- 

 ever, after drilling seven dry holes in 1974 and 1975, Exxon and 

 its partners, Mobil and Champlin (the holders of the lease) stop- 

 ped drilling and the potential of the Eastern Gulf was reduced 

 to practically zero (Leblanc, 1976: 89). In fact, out of 60 MAFLA 

 tracts offered in the 1976 lease sale, bids were received on only 

 four. The four tracts were subsequently leased at an average 

 price of only $175.00 per acre compared to an average of $3,075 

 per acre on tracts leased in the 1973 sale ( Offshore , 1976). 



The South Texas area had also presented some hope to oil- 

 men, but seismographic tests dimmed hopes by the end of 1974. 

 The February, 1975 lease sale for offshore Texas drew only a few 

 bids and most of those were for the High Island South area (off 

 the upper Texas coast) (Figure 2.1). Subsequent sales in May 

 and July drew even fewer and lower bids. The bulk of the 

 activity along the Texas coast took place in the upper Texas 

 coast High Island and Brazos areas (Leblanc, 1976: 83). 



Due to the failure of the MAFLA and South Texas areas to 



materialize as prime production areas, there has been renewed 



interest in the central Gulf area, mostly for development of 



55 



