The Fish and Wildlife Service is primarily responsible for the 

 implementation of the Endangered Species Act. This act prohibits 

 destruction of the habitat of certain listed plant and animal species by 

 Federal agencies or under Federal permits. 



Development Strategy 



Platform-fabrication yards are built by companies that specialize 

 in the construction and erection of offshore facilities under contract 

 to the oil companies (which are the offshore operators). Yard sponsors 

 stay in close contact with the offshore operators to ascertain future 

 regional demand for platforms. By comparing the anticipated demand for 

 platforms with the capability and location of existing yards, the 

 fabricators can evaluate the needs for additional fabrication yards to 

 serve new demands in developing fields. As previously stated, unless 

 there are major finds, there will be no additional major platform yards. 



Among the most important considerations are: (1) an estimate of the 

 demand for platforms and the timing of that demand; (2) the location of 

 the find, therefore, the type of platform likely to be in demand; (3) an 

 estimate of the portion of the market that can be captured; (4) labor 

 availability and restrictions; (5) proximity to the find and, (6) water 

 depth and climatic conditions in the frontier area. 



Basically, the fabricator desires to find a reasonably sized and 

 situated tract of level land within economically practicable distances 

 from the offshore installation sites, that also has close access to 

 water of sufficient depth to allow movement of the platforms from the 

 yard to open water and on to the installation site. 



In addition to the unpredictability of demand by new fields, the 

 excessive overbuilding during the past few years of both tankers and 

 mobile drilling rigs caused a sharp downturn in the U.S. and worldwide 

 shipyard activity. This downturn, expected to continue through 1980, 

 has freed shipbuilding facilities to convert and to enter the platform- 

 fabrication business, thus potentially reducing the need for new yards. 



The strategies of the offshore operators and platform fabrication 

 sponsors are largely but not totally compatible. The sponsor wants to 

 limit investment in the yard until an initial contract order is signed. 

 Therefore, the sponsor would prepare all engineering studies and would 

 acquire all permits for yard construction but would not initiate con- 

 struction activities. On the other hand the offshore operator would 

 benefit from the maximum development of the yard prior to contract 

 orders so that production can be initiated at the earliest possible time 

 after confirmation that recoverable quantities of oil exist under the 

 OCS site. 



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