degrees depending on the type of operation, 
degree of control and automation, and strength 
and proximity of the hurricane. It has been 
estimated that Hurricane Inez in 1966 cost 
Louisiana operators $1.5 million in expenses and 
lost production even though the hurricane did not 
come near enough to cause any property damage. 
Property losses, as differentiated from shut 
downs, have been even greater. Hurricanes Hilda 
(1964) and Betsy (1965) each caused offshore 
property losses exceeding $100 million. 
Improved hurricane path prediction will reduce 
the degree and length of shutdowns. Greater 
knowledge of the wind, wave, and subsurface 
forces associated with hurricanes will allow im- 
proved design and construction techniques result- 
ing in savings in construction cost, property losses, 
and insurance premiums. 
Modification of intensity or path of hurricanes 
would have obvious advantages not only to the 
petroleum industry but all other marine and 
coastal interests. However, progress in hurricane 
research has been disappointingly slow; accurate 
prediction, modification, and perhaps control 
remain hopes for the future. To help in this 
problem, the Environmental Science Services Ad- 
ministration recently has intensified research at its 
National Hurricane Center. 
Very little is known about the size, shape, speed, 
and destructive power of hurricane waves. The 
more than 1,000 existing offshore platforms 
represent potential instrument sites to measure 
environmental conditions and their effects. Several 
offshore operators have indicated willingness to 
make their platforms available for data gathering. 
In addition, the use of laser or radar altimeters by 
aircraft may have potential for studying hurricane 
waves, and the study of their feasibility deserves a 
high priority. 
Recommendation: 
The U.S. Government, together with industry and 
the academic community, should intensify current 
efforts to improve understanding of hurricanes and 
their destructive effects. 
5. Technology Transfer? 
A disappointingly small amount of the oceano- 
graphic and ocean engineering data and technology 
Oil and gas technology is discussed in the Report of 
the PaneLon Marine Engineering and Technology. 
V-26 
acquired by various Government agencies has 
reached offshore operators. Such information and 
technology could benefit all offshore operations, 
especially the petroleum industry. Exploration, 
drilling, and production in deeper waters where 
technology must be more advanced make in- 
creased oceanographic knowledge more needed 
than ever. 
The responsibility for information exchange 
should not fall exclusively on Government 
agencies. The petroleum companies, by virtue of 
their many research efforts and ocean operating 
experience, have accumulated considerable knowl- 
edge on their own. Much of this is not genuinely 
proprietary and could be of great value to the 
Nation if disseminated among other private inter- 
ests and Government agencies. 
Unfortunately, greater exchange of information 
will not be easy. The knowledge, customarily in 
the sole possession of a few experts, is rarely well 
documented or advertised. Consequently, because 
person-to-person transfer generally has been ineffi- 
cient, enormous effort will be necessary to achieve 
greater interchange. 
There already have been some cooperative 
efforts by Government, universities, and the petro- 
leum industry to improve technology transfer in 
such subjects as environmental prediction, plat- 
form design, underwater completion, materials 
studies, and welding techniques. For example, one 
company with considerable expertise in under- 
water oil well completion gave a course on the 
subject. Seven petroleum companies signed up at 
$100,000 each, while the U.S. Geological Survey 
was invited to participate at no cost. On another 
occasion, a joint Navy-industry research project 
for measuring hurricane waves was established on a 
cost-sharing, information-sharing basis. 
6. Multiple Use Conflicts 
Conflicting uses of coastal and offshore marine 
areas is becoming an increasing burden to oil 
companies. Delays in offshore operations resulting 
from uncertainties brought about by such conflicts 
have cost the petroleum industry substantial sums. 
There is urgent need to bring private interests 
together with representatives from U.S., State, and 
local governments to develop a mechanism for 
rationally resolving the conflicts. The advisory 
committee recommended in Chapter 3 of this 
