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   This is not the current National Assessment but has been retained for historical information.

A Geologic Assessment of the Undiscovered Hydrocarbon
Potential of the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf

This Assessment is a multiyear study by the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) to assess the undiscovered crude oil and natural gas resources of the United States Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This study was carried out concurrently with a parallel study by the U.S. Geological Survey that assessed the undiscovered resources of the onshore and state offshore areas of the United States.

The MMS has adopted a new methodology and modified certain Canadian Geological Survey computer models to better assess undiscovered oil and natural gas resources, particularly those considered "uneconomic." As compared with the previous OCS Assessment (1987), results show significantly higher estimates for both oil and natural gas, chiefly for the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea areas offshore Alaska. However, only a small portion of the overall increase is considered to be economically viable at oil prices of $18 to $30 per barrel.

Reviews of the 1987 assessment of OCS undiscovered resources by outside technical groups suggested that the MMS results were conservative. In order to implement the technical recommendations from these reviewers and better address the needs of planners and decisionmakers within the MMS, a revised methodology was initiated in 1991. However, MMS cautions that comparisons with past assessments are difficult because of extensive changes in modeling and the general assessment methodology changes.

Total conventionally recoverable resources for the OCS range for oil, from approximately 37.1 billion barrels of oil (BBO) to as much as 55.3 BBO with an estimated mean of 45.6 BBO. For gas, this range encompasses 186.3 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG) for the lower estimate to 369.2 TCFG for the high estimate, with an estimated mean of 268.0 TCFG.

 
Download the Report (4.7Mb)

This is not the current National Assessment but has been retained for historical information.

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Last Updated: 02/03/2006, 07:31 AM