Marine Science Affairs 



from today's base. The United States currently imports 21 percent of its 

 minerals and 13.5 percent of its petroleum; the percentage is considerably 

 higher for certain strategic metals such as manganese. The world-wide de- 

 mand for minerals also will increase because of industrialization and rising 

 levels of consumption. Such projections create incentives for geological ex- 

 ploration for new reserves and for technological advances to permit use of 

 lower grade sources or substitute materials. 



Significance of Offshore Production 



Federal policies on solid mineral resources and fossil fuels have tradition- 

 ally been based on the assumption that the supply would come very largely 

 from land sources. In recent years, however, the grade of minerals from land 

 sources has decreased and production costs have risen. These trends have 

 motivated industry, with the aid of new technology, to turn to the sea for 

 oil, gas, and sulfur, and to begin to look seaward for new sources of aggre- 

 gates and other materials. This quest, for the time being, is largely pursued 

 in the relatively shallow waters of the Continental Shelf, which approxi- 

 mates 860,000 square miles, one-third of our present land area. 



Although little of the U.S. Continental Shelf has been systematically 

 surveyed to determine the presence, distribution, and richness of seabed de- 

 posits, this Nation's economy is already benefitting significantly from its 

 resources; this new frontier now provides almost 9 percent of the dollar value 

 of U.S. petroleum production, significant amounts of sulfur, and contributes 

 to national production of other minerals as well. Table IV. 1 shows the value 

 of U.S. offshore mineral production. Table IV.2 summarizes recent marine 

 mining activities. Figure IV. 1 shows some of the current exploratory drilling 

 around the world. 



The value of all minerals produced from Federal and State off-shore 

 waters in the past seven years exceeds $6 billion. The value of petroleum 

 production through 1967 from the Outer Continental Shelf lands (under 

 Federal jurisdiction) has totalled about $4 billion, and if State lands are 

 included, over $5 billion. Since the first Federal off-shore lease sale in 1954, 

 1,276 oil and gas leases have been sold resulting in a total bonus income of 

 almost $2 billion. Federal royalties from production of oil, gas, and sulfur 

 from the Outer Continental Shelf have totalled more than $700 million 

 through 1967, and the Federal Government now receives more than $12 

 million per month in royalties.^ 



^ The Outer Continental Shelf is that portion of the Shelf beyond three miles 

 from the coast, except along the Gulf coasts of Florida and Texas, where it is defined 

 as beyond three marine leagues. 



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