Sunniland by Humble Oil and Refining Co. began producing on 26 September 1943, 

 but was abandoned on 10 May 1946. A small oil field has been developed at 

 Sunniland since then and continues to produce (Gunter 1952, Vernon et al . 

 1961). 



Offshore oil exploration in Florida was recorded as early as 1947 when 

 the first offshore well was drilled from an artificially created island about 

 48 km (30 mi) east of Key West. In 1947-53, offshore oil exploration contin- 

 ued in Federal and State waters under nominal Federal and State regulations. 

 In 1953, Congress enacted the OCS Lands Act (67 Stat. 462; 43 USC 1331- 

 1343 ca. 1981) affirming that Federal submerged lands on the OCS seaward of 

 State boundaries would be subject to Federal Government control. On the west 

 coast of Florida, State jurisdiction extends three marine leagues (approxi- 

 mately 17 km or 10.4 mi) from the coastline. The act governs the leasing of 

 offshore tracts for exploration, development, and production of subsea mineral 

 resources. The act provided that the Secretary of the Interior "... is 

 authorized to grant to the highest responsible bidder by competitive bidding 

 under regulations promulgated in advance, oil and gas leases on submerged 

 lands of the Outer Continental Shelf." 



In 1959, the first Federal lease sale (L.S. #5) in Florida encompassed 

 the Marqueses areas in the Straits of Florida between the Dry Tortugas and Key 

 West. The sale offered 80 tracts, consisting of 185,425 ha (458,000 acres) of 

 which 23 tracts were leased. Drilling was discontinued in 1963 because of the 

 scarcity of oil. 



INLAND PETROLEUM PRODUCTION 



More than 50 test wells were drilled in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties 

 in the 1960's before oil was discovered (Marsh 1966). On 15 June 1970, Exxon, 

 formerly known as Humble Oil and Refining Company, started a 5-hour production 

 test in a well that flowed naturally at a rate of 1,712 barrels of oil and 

 2.15 million ft^ of gas per day. This well marked the discovery of the Jay 

 Field. Within four years, the productive surface area of 5,625 ha (13,900 

 acres) was fully delineated and peak production of 93,500 barrels per day was 

 achieved. The rapid development was the result of cooperation by four major 

 corporations: EXXON, Sun Oil, Amarada Hess, and Louisiana Land and Explora- 

 tion. The field was the largest inland petroleum find in the contiguous 48 

 states in twenty years, and it is expected to produce some 345 million barrels 

 of oil during its life (Florida Energy Office 1975). 



In 1978, crude oil in Northwest Florida contributed 42,497,000 barrels 

 (89.4%) of the State total of 47,536,000 barrels (Curry 1978). Cumulative oil 

 production in 1970-78 from the Jay field alone was 208.4 million barrels, 

 which is just over one-half the estimated recoverable oil from the Jay field 

 using existing production methods (Florida Energy Office 1975). In addition 

 to crude oil, about 41.8 billion ft^ of marketable casinghead gas was produced 

 from the four fields in 1978 (Curry 1978). In 1979, oil and gas production 

 declined somewhat. About 42,262,951 barrels of oil and 49,812,460 million ft^ 

 of gas were produced. 



140 



