225 



technolos^ies of recovery, and demands advance at expected rates, it is 

 projected that 20 percent of total domestic production in 1980 — about 

 1 billion barrels — may come from the offshore marine region. 



TABLE IV.4.7.-CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION FROM THE CONTINENTAL SHELPi 

 [Million; of barrels] 



> It should be noted that totals from Texas are not included in this summary. It is thus a conservative picture of offshore 

 oil production. 

 2 Not available. 



Source: National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, "The Economic Potential of the Mineral 

 and Botanical Resources of the U.S. Continental Shelf and Slope," report by Economic Associates, Inc., p. 226, 1968. 



Nearly one-quarter of present U.S. reserves are found on the Conti- 

 nental Shelf. Those reserves found under water depths of 200 feet or 

 less are of particular importance to the estuarine zone; major areas 

 identified as having significant crude oil deposits in near-shore water 

 are listed in table IV.4.8. 



Sulphur mining is another major estuarine activity. Presently, most 

 of the subsurface extraction is concentrated in three mines : two located 

 on the Continental Shelf several males off the Louisiana coast and the 

 third in a coastal bay off the same State. By 1970, these three mines 

 are projected to supply about 2.5 million tons of Frasch sulphur, or 

 about one-fourth of total projected domestic demand. 



Significant expansion of this industry in the estuarine zone seems 

 unlikely in the near future, since there are large and economically 

 competitive land-based sulphur sources in western Texas, as well as 

 competition from gypsum byproducts and from probable byproduct 

 recovery under new air pollution restrictions. 



Table IV.4-8 — U.S. areas with significant crude oil deposits — Estimated ultvmate 

 reserves of offshore crude oil 



[Billioins of barrels] 

 Region : 



Atlantic seaboard (excluding Florida) 1.0 



Florida, Northern Gulf Coast 3.2 



Mississippi and Alabama 2. 9 



Louisiana 17. 9 



Texas 7. 



Southern California 1. 3 



Alaska, Pacific Coast, and Gulf of Alaska 24. 



Total 57. 



Source : The Economic Potential of the Mineral and Botanical Resources of the U.S. 

 Continental Shelf and Slope, op. cit., p. 221. 



