Outer-continental shelf oil and gas leasing policy

Technical Report · Mon Apr 13 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6490489

Davidson, V A

With the potential for disruption of oil imports from the Persian Gulf associated with political instability in the region, the Department of Energy is interested in encouraging production of oil from all domestic sources. The unleased regions of the OCS are a major untapped source of domestic oil. Estimates of undiscovered oil resources vary from 67 to 300 billion barrels of oil and natural gas liquids offshore to water depths of 200 meters. Therefore, the Office of Oil Policy in DOE is concerned that the government process for leasing OCS tracts encourages production of these reserves. The purpose of this analysis is to determine if the current leasing process impedes timely resource development. In addition, the current lease sale process will be evaluated to determine if changes in the process might result in more efficient development of OCS reserves without endangering the environment and concurrent with ensuring fair market value to the public. Also, changes in the bidding systems involved in allocation of leases to firms will be evaluated. Section 1 describes the extent of resources in the Outer-Continental Shelf, the current leasing process, and the goals of the leasing process. Section II evaluates recommendations which may lead to improvements in OCS resource development.

• Research Organization: Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (USA). John Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government
• DOE Contract Number: AC01-80PE70278
• OSTI ID: 6490489
• Report Number(s): DOE/PE/70278-T14; ON: DE81025169
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020700* -- Petroleum-- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
294002 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Petroleum
BIDS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
EVALUATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
LEASING
MINERAL RESOURCES
OPTIMIZATION
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RECOMMENDATIONS
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES