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Title: Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities in the Atlantic and their onshore impacts. Atlantic summary report, July 1, 1983-December 31, 1984

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5588759

The search for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic continues. Hydrocarbon exploration efforts have been and probably will continue to be concentrated on four major sedimentary basins: the Georges Bank Basin, the Baltimore Canyon Trough, the Carolina Trough, and the Blake Plateau Basin. To date, 46 exploratory wells have been drilled in these areas, most of them in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area where resource estimates indicate the hydrocarbon potential is the greatest of the three Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf planning areas. Currently, no operators are involved in exploration efforts in the Atlantic. No commercial discoveries have been announced. Since the first and most successful sale of Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf blocks in Lease Sale 40 in August 1976, there have been eight other sales bringing total revenues of almost $3 billion to the Federal Treasury. The current tentative milestone chart for the 5-year offshore leasing schedule calls for four additional lease sales to be held in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. Although no firm plans have been made for the transportation of potential offshore hydrocarbons to onshore processing facilities, it is believed that oil would be transported by tanker or tug-barge system to existing refineries on the Raritan and Delaware Bays. Gas probably would be transported by pipeline to one of several onshore landfalls identifed by Atlantic Coast States and in Federal environmental impact documents. Recent onshore support for Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf exploration came from Davisville, Rhode Island, the only shore support base for the Atlantic that was active during 1984. Three maps are provided in the back pocket of this report for the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic planning areas. 29 refs., 8 figs., 6 tabs.

Research Organization:
Rogers, Golden and Halpern, Inc., Reston, VA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5588759
Report Number(s):
OCS/MMS-85-0021; ON: TI85901864
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English