Table V-1 — Value of Mineral Production From Oceans Bordering the 



United States, 1960-69 



[In millions of dollars] 



• Shell and calcareous marl. 



Source: Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, Dec. 30, 1969. 



output of 6.5 million barrels per day — will come from beneath the ocean; 

 the increase in gas production is expected to be comparable. 



In the United States, where some 90 percent of the most favorable on- 

 shore areas have been explored as contrasted with less than 10 percent of 

 the oflFshore shelf areas, subsea petroleum development is increasing rapidly. 

 Since 1946, approximately 15,300 wells have been drilled offshore and it has 

 been estimated ^ that 3,000 to 5,000 wells will be drilled annually by 1980. 

 Over $13 billion has been invested by industry in exploration and develop- 

 ment activities which have resulted in the production of $7 billion worth of 

 oil and gas from the submerged wedge of sediments comprising the U.S. 

 Continental Shelf, mostly off Louisiana. To date, the minerals industry 

 has paid the Federal Government some $3.4 billion in bonuses to lease 6.5 

 million acres of the Outer Continental Shelf. All but $35 million of this 

 was paid for oil and gas leases with the remainder going for rights to salt 

 and sulfur. As shown in figure V-2, income to the U.S. Treasury from 

 OCS lands in fiscal year 1969 totaled $714 million with bonuses account- 

 ing for $492 million; production royalties $214 million; and rentals paid 

 on leased acreage $8 million. The reduction in receipts from the previous 

 year is due in large measure to a temporary suspension of lease sales after 

 the Santa Barbara blowout. 



The ocean is a valuable source of a variety of mineral commodities, in ad- 

 dition to oil and gas, for a growing number of the coastal nations. Salt, bro- 



^ "Offshore Mineral Resources — A Challenge and an Opportunity" ; second report 

 of the President's Panel on Oil Spills; Office of Science and Technology, 1969. 



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