20 



Oceanography — The Ten Years Ahead 



It will probably need federal assistance in devel- 

 oping, building, and operating such improved 

 gear. It especially needs intervention by the Fed- 

 eral Government in developing international 

 agreements on fisheries management. For as 

 the inevitable increase in take occurs, whether 

 or not Americans help produce it, the problems 

 of rational exploitation discussed in the previous 

 chapter will become critical. The scientific knowl- 

 edge needed to further this national goal by ef- 

 fective participation in international regulatory 

 bodies is critical for the fisheries whose livelihood 

 is at stake. 



C. Offshore Oil Industry 



Offshore oil production in the United States 

 began in the Gulf of Mexico from the Creole 

 field adjacent to the Louisiana shoreline in 1938. 

 It was followed by somewhat slower development 

 off the California and Texas coasts. 



Today there are also oil and gas fields produc- 

 ing in many inland bodies of water throughout 

 the world, such as in Lake Erie. The largest off- 

 shore oilfield in marine waters is in the Persian 

 Gulf, off the coasts of Saudi Arabia and the nearby 

 Neutral Zone. Other producing fields are in the 

 Gulf of Suez, off the shores of Venezuela, Japan, 

 Mexico, Trinidad, and Peru. Operations are ex- 

 pected to be extended both geographically and 

 in depth. 



The magnitude of the offshore operations is 

 illustrated by figures for the Louisiana marine 

 area. Total investment at the end of 1962 exceeded 

 $3 billion, with a forecast of $2.6 billion to be 

 invested in the next five years. From 1938 to July 1, 

 1962, a total of 4325 wells had been drilled. Liquid 

 hydrocarbon proved reserves exceed 2 billion 

 barrels, plus 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas 

 reserves. In the essentially unexplored water 

 depths of 100 to 600 feet, some 250 new oil and 

 gas fields are expected to be found eventually. 

 As many more fields may be found in shallower 

 waters in the Louisiana area. 



Oil production in this area, beyond the three- 

 mile limit, has increased steadily from 3 million 

 barrels in 1954, to 11 million in 1956, 36 million 

 in 1959, and almost 88 million barrels in 1962. 

 Offshore natural gas production has had a simi- 

 lar growth, with cumulative sales for all offshore 

 Louisiana now 2 trillion cubic feet. 



Project Mohole (not fiscally included in the Na- 

 tional Oceanographic Program), a plan to drill 

 through the earth's crust into the mantle, has dem- 

 onstrated in the first phase of operations that 

 drilling can be done in water as deep as 12,000 

 feet, and subsequent phases should enhance off- 

 shore drilling technology. An industry drilling 

 vessel is now operating in 277 feet of water 40 

 miles from the Louisiana shore. This equipment 

 is designed for use in waters 600 feet deep. 



Cost is the major problem of the oil and gas 

 industry in offshore operations. Equipment in- 

 vestment costs obviously are much greater than 

 for onshore exploration, drilling, and production. 

 Drilling and operating costs for a 10,000-foot well 

 are about 50 percent more offshore than onshore. 

 However, offshore drilling to date has been more 

 productive (about 4 to 1) in terms of reserves 

 found. 



The oil industry has been relatively self-reliant 

 in its oceanography and underwater geology. In- 

 formation in its files on the topography and struc- 

 ture of many areas along the continental shelf 

 probably exceeds that available elsewhere in both 

 scientific quality and quantity. The beneficial effect 

 of permanent structures and islands at sea on 

 fishing is well-known. These structures attract fish 

 and provide a desirable environment for them. 

 This in turn attracts fishermen. Underwater tele- 

 vision cameras used by the industry already have 

 photographed forms of sea life not known before. 

 Technically, many of the innovations developed in 

 the search for oil under the seas have been imme- 

 diately useful to other industries and other scien- 

 tific pursuits. Much geological data, now unavail- 

 able for proprietary reasons, would also be of 

 great general value if the oil industry finds itself 

 in a position to release it in the future. Exploration 

 of marine areas by the oil industry has been largely 

 confined to areas of considerable economic poten- 

 tial, as for example, along the Gulf Coast and the 

 coast of California where producing fields and 

 geologic conditions of promise extend seaward. As 

 on land, the industry looks to government for ex- 

 ploration in areas of unknown or marginal oil and 

 gas potential. 



D. The Sea-Mining Industry 



Diamonds are recovered along the coast of South 

 Africa, tin is dredged from shallow waters off the 



