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Industry Technology Needs for the Future 



The Office of Naval Research (ONR) supports research and development 

 (R&D) in several areas with potential for application outside the Navy. Many 

 marine industries and other nonmilitary users could benefit from some product of 

 ONR research (in such areas as coastal zone management, parks and recreation, 

 shipping and shipbuilding, and conmiercial weather forecasting). The commit- 

 tee could not explore all possible apphcations of ONR technology but instead 

 focused its attention on four important, potential user groups. The committee 

 invited representatives of the oil and gas industry (i.e., exploration, production, 

 and pipeline operation), fisheries, environmental companies, and marine equip- 

 ment and service providers to present their views on the existing and future 

 technology needs of industry. Because of their economic dominance, these four 

 groups represent that segment of the nonmiUtary, marine industrial sector that the 

 committee concluded could benefit the most from future ONR-supported re- 

 search and technology development. 



OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY 



Whether measured by payroll, value output, capital investment, geographic 

 reach, or technical complexity, the offshore oil and gas industry (including explo- 

 ration and production, as well as pipeline operation and maintenance) is this 

 country's most significant commercial activity offshore. ONR is the most pow- 

 erful American instrument for marine technology development. Cooperative 

 effort, information interchange, and technology transfer between these two enti- 

 ties appear, however, to be intermittent and incomplete, at best. They are, at 



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