430 



Mr. Danenberger. No. It is quite a lengthy procedure between 

 the first discovery and the initiation of production, especially in a 

 deep water area. It is at least a 5-year period. 



Mr. D' Amours. Once you strike the pool of oil, don't all of the 

 risks attendant with production occur at that point? 



Mr. Danenberger. No. Because there wouldn't actually be any 

 production until some sort of production program was submitted 

 and the platforms or sub-sea completions, all the fabrication work 

 and the pipelaying has to be done. 



Mr. D' Amours. Have you ever known of a successful strike to 

 have not been produced in the history of drilling? 



Mr. Danenberger. Yes. A lot of times it takes years to deter- 

 mine whether or not a strike is commercially exploitable. In the 

 Baltimore Canyon there is a discovery right now that is still being 

 further reviewed. 



At this point it appears it is not commercial. It is possible that in 

 the future more information will indicate that it is, or additional 

 discoveries in the area will allow them to bring this one in. 



Mr. D' Amours. I don't know why it wouldn't be commercial. It 

 may be because there are not sufficient amounts to bring up. But 

 the question here is environmental, I would think, rather than 

 commercial. And I wonder, have you ever known of a substantial 

 find of a pool of oil not to have been developed? 



Mr. Danenberger. Well, there is always that chance. There is 

 one right now off of Newfoundland that is a tremendous discovery, 

 that has been delayed for several years because of political and en- 

 vironmental concerns. The Hondo field of California was initially 

 discovered in 1970, and I believe it was after approximately 1980 

 before production started. And most of those delays were because 

 of environmental studies. So I think 



Mr. D' Amours. The first case you cited was a Canadian case? 



Mr. Danenberger. Right. 



Mr. D'Amours. I guess I meant to limit my question to the 

 United States. 



Mr. Danenberger. There are examples. The Hondo field is one, 

 where extensive environmental work was done, including an envi- 

 ronmental impact statement. 



Mr. D'Amours. But there was production ultimately? 



Mr. Danenberger. There was production ultimately, but modi- 

 fied procedures. 



Mr. D'Amours. So we know of no U.S. case where a substantial, 

 worthwhile find, was not produced? 



Mr. Danenberger. I cannot think of one that ultimately was not 

 considered for production, but with major modifications. 



I know there is a commitment to an environmental impact state- 

 ment before the initiation of production in the North Atlantic. So 

 these types of concerns would be considered at that point. 



Mr. D Amours. Do you think that, given the rather dramatic de- 

 crease in the projected levels of oil to be recovered from Georges 

 Bank, that it make sense to go ahead with continued exploration 

 unless and until we have further information as to the possible 

 dangers and impacts presented by deep water drilling? 



Mr. Danenberger. I just wanted to make one further point on 

 your last question. 



