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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
USGS1976

Summary report of the sediments, structural framework, petroleum potential, environmental conditions, and operational considerations of the United States Beaufort Sea, Alaska area

Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale i54comprising approximately 20,000 sq km in the Beaufort Sea of northern Alaska, has good potential for petroleum in each of the three geologic provinces it contains. However, only about half of the proposed area underlies waters shallower than 20 m, the apparent present technologic limit for petroleum development in polar seas impacted by a drifting permanent ice pack.

Alaska↗
USGS1979

Summary report of the sediments, structural framework, petroleum potential, and environmental conditions of the United States Mid-Atlantic continental margin in area of proposed Oil & Gas Lease Sale No. 59

This report has been compiled to update and summarize the geological information concerning the area of the Atlantic continental margin off the U.S. Mid-Atlantic proposed for Oil and Gas Lease Sale No. 59 (fig. 1). The region of interest lies between 35° and 41° N and 70.5° and 76° W. The north-south dimension is about 660 km (356 nautical miles, 410 statute miles) and the maximum east-west dimension is approximately 250 km (135 nautical miles, 155 statute miles). The area is centered toward the outer Continental Shelf off Delaware and contains more than 154,000 km2 (38,000,000 acres) off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. Water depths within the region range from 20 to slightly more than 4,000 m (fig. 1). This report begins with a discussion of the regional geology and geophysics, followed by a description of the oil and gas potential and potential environmental hazards.

Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Ca↗
USGS1980

Final executive summary report; environmental studies, southeastern United States Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf, 1977; geology

Starting in mid 1976 and continuing into 1977 a variety of geological studies were carried out by the U. S. Geological Survey on the southeastern U. S. Atlantic Continental Margin to assess conditions and hazards that might cause or distribute oil spills or other pollutants, or constrain petroleum exploration or development of the area. These detailed investigations were requested and funded by the Bureau of Land Management to carry out its responsibility under the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act of 1969. Because of the energy crisis the decision had been made to lease on the southeastern continental shelf. A variety of studies had to be mounted quickly for input into decisions concerning the environment that would affect or constrain which lease tracks would be offered. The first lease sale, Lease Sale 43, took place in March 1978, and the environmental information on which this lease sale was based came in part from this initial effort and in part from a wide variety of pertinent data assembled from the literature by the Bureau of Land Management's Environmental Assessment Division. The compilation of relevant data for the Environmental Impact Statement for Lease Sale 43 also pointed up deficiencies in environmental knowledge in a number of areas. The Bureau of Land Management's environmental program for the Southeast Atlantic OCS was initiated to fill gaps in the environmental data base and to detect and assess impacts from oil and gas exploration and production.

Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina↗
USGS1980

Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities in the Mid-Atlantic and their onshore impacts: a summary report, November 1979

Outer continental shelf (OCS) activity in the Mid-Atlantic Region to date has been limited to exploratory drilling. The first rig began drilling in March 1978. More rigs quickly moved into the Region, and as many as nine were working at the same time for a brief period in January 1979. As of November 1979, nineteen exploratory wells and two stratigraphic test wells had been drilled by the oil companies. One of these test wells and three exploratory wells have had shows of natural gas, but none of the oil companies has yet announced that it has found enough gas to go forward with plans for production. Because of the somewhat disappointing results so far, exploratory drilling has declined. Only one company is currently operating a rig, and one other company has announced plans to begin drilling this winter. The most recent risked estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey of undiscovered, economically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Mid-Atlantic tracts currently under lease are 8 million barrels of oil and 860 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The resource estimate for oil does not represent a commercially producible quantity. On the basis of the geologic information gained from wells completed to date and the huge capital costs of building a pipeline to bring the gas ashore, the natural gas estimate for currently leased tracts in the Mid-Atlantic Region appears to be short of a commercially producible amount. To date, onshore impacts resulting from OCS exploration consist of two support bases: a helicopter base in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from which crews are flown out to the drilling rigs; and a support base in Davisville, Rhode Island, from which equipment and supplies are ferried out to the rigs by boat. It is expected that exploratory activity will remain close to present levels for at least the next six months; consequently, support activity at Davisville and Atlantic City for Mid-Atlantic OCS operations during the same period is expected to correspond to current levels.

New Jersey;Rhode Island↗
USGS1980

A summary report of the regional geology, petroleum potential, environmental geology, and operational considerations in the area of proposed lease sale No. 68, offshore southern California

This report reviews geological, geophysical and technological data that are pertinent to proposed OCS Lease Sale 68. Under consideration are 26,000 mi 2 (67,400 km 2 ) of the California Continental Borderland north of the U.S.-Mexico boundary. The area includes both leased and unleased tracts and lies adjacent to the highly productive coastal basins of southern California. Factors that have contributed to petroleum generation in the onshore basins, such as thickness, burial depth and hydrocarbon content, are less favorable in parts of the offshore region. Nevertheless, regional geologic and geophysical mapping together with data from stratigraphic test wells and bottom samples suggest that source beds, reservoir rocks and traps are present beneath the borderland. Strata of Miocene age are widespread within the area of proposed OCS Lease Sale 68 and contain fair to excellent potential source rocks. Eocene and early Miocene sandstone beds in the Cortes Bank test well and late Miocene and Pliocene rocks in the Point Conception test well have porosities that are within the range of good reservoir rocks. Late middle Miocene through Pliocene sandy turbidites of reservoir quality possibly occur in some outer borderland basins. Additional prospective targets are fractured Miocene shale beds that may be present in the deeper basins and on the down-flank margins of major uplifts. Numerous structural and stratigraphic traps, which formed in response to late Cenozoic wrench tectonics, are distributed throughout the borderland.

California↗
USGS1980

A summary report of the regional geology, environmental geology, OCS resource appraisal, petroleum potential, and operational considerations in the area of proposed lease sale 73, offshore California

This report reviews geological, geophysical and technological data pertinent to proposed Lease Sale 73. Under consideration is the entire continental margin of California that is bounded on the west by the 2500 meter isobath. This area encompasses the whole of the southern California Borderland, the continental shelves of central and northern California, and the upper part of the continental slope from Mexico on the south to Oregon on the north. The area includes both leased and unleased tracts and lies adjacent to highly productive coastal basins of central and northern California . Because the geology of the south and north parts of this large area differ, they are considered separately in this report.

California↗
USGS1980

Outer continental shelf oil and gas activities in the Pacific (Southern California) and their onshore impacts: a summary report, May 1980

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas exploration and development have been under way in the Pacific (Southern California) Region since 1966. During that time, there have been four Federal lease sales: in 1966, 1968, 1975 (Sale 35), and 1979 (Sale 48). Oil and gas production from three leases has been going on since 1968. It peaked in 1971 and now averages around 31,400 barrels of oil and 15.4 million cubic feet of gas per day. Discoveries on areas leased in the 1968 and 1975 sales have led to plans for eight new platforms to begin production in the early 1980's. Five platforms are in the eastern end of Santa Barbara Channel, one is in the western Channel, and two are in San Pedro Bay, south of Long Beach. Three rigs are doing exploratory drilling in the Region. The most recent estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey of remaining reserves for all identified fields in the Southern California Region are 695 million barrels of oil and 1,575 billion cubic feet of gas (January 1979). The USGS has also made risked estimates of economically recoverable oil and gas resources for all the leased tracts in the Region (March 1980). These risked estimates of economically recoverable resources are 394 billion barrels of oil and 1,295 billion cubic feet of gas. The USGS estimates of undiscovered recoverable resources for the entire Southern California OCS Region (January 1980) are 3,200 million barrels of oil and 3,400 billion cubic feet of gas. Because of the long history of oil and gas production in Southern California from wells onshore and in State waters, there are many existing facilities for the transportation, processing, and refining of oil and gas. Some of the expected new OCS production can be accommodated in these facilities. Four new onshore projects will be required. Two of these are under construction: (1) a 9.6-km (6-mi) onshore oil pipeline (capacity: 60,000 bpd) between Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County) and the existing Mobil-Rincon separation and treatment facility (Ventura County), and (2) a small supply base and dock (upgrade of existing facility) and a 0.4-hectare (1-acre) crude oil distribution facility in Long Beach (Los Angeles County), connected to landfall by a 3-km (1.8-mi) onshore pipeline. The two other facilities are awaiting permit approval: (1) a gas treatment plant at Las Flores Canyon (Santa Barbara County) and (2) a separation and treatment plant at Mandalay Beach (Ventura County) with 4 km (2.5 mi) of onshore pipeline on the same right-of-way from landfall to the plant and from the plant to an existing gas transmission line.

California↗
USGS1981

Arctic summary report: Outer Continental Shelf and onshore oil and gas activities and impacts in the Arctic : a summmary report, October 1981

Due to the amount of Federal and State oil and gas activity in the Arctic subregion and the need for comprehensive planning, State and local officials requested coverage of all oil and gas activity in the area. The first lease sale of offshore lands in the Beaufort Sea was held by the State of Alaska in 1969. The leasing process for oil and gas exploration on the Beaufort Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) began in April 1976 with the first Federal lease sale in the subregion (Joint Federal/State Beaufort Sea Lease Sale) held in 1979. This sale was held jointly by the Department of the Interior and the State of Alaska because of conflicting jurisdictional claims to certain tracts in the sale area. The jurisdictional dispute will be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court, but a decision is not expected for several years. The joint sale was held on December 11, 1979. However, bids on the Federal tracts were not accepted until July 1980 because of litigation. Of the 117 tracts offered, 86 were leased as a result of the sale. Of these 86 tracts, 24 are federally managed and 62 are State-managed. Two exploration plans have been submitted for the federally managed joint lease sale (Sale BF) area. Both plans call for building a gravel island and exploratory drilling of several tracts, but no drilling permits have yet been filed. Three exploratory wells have been drilled on or into State-managed tracts. These include one well drilled directionally into Tract 75, one into Tract 76, and one well drilled from Challenge Island, a natural barrier island. Additional exploratory wells are planned for the 1981-82 drilling season on State-managed tracts. The next OCS sale in the Beaufort Sea, Lease Sale 71, is proposed for September 1982. The first two sales in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska are being planned for December 1981 and the late spring or early summer of 1982 and will involve a total of 2 million acres (809,200 hectares). In anticipation of future leasing, plans for geophysical surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are also being formulated. Four State lease sales have been held in the Arctic, in addition to the Joint Federal/State Lease Sale. These onshore sales have resulted in the leasing of lands on which a number of commercial discoveries have been made, including the discovery of the largest hydrocarbon accumulation in North America at Prudhoe Bay. Exploration, development, and production are continuing on these State lands. The State of Alaska has plans for three future lease sales in the Arctic to be held in the spring of 1982 and 1983 and the fall of 1984. Leasing and exploration are also under way on Arctic Slope Regional Corporation lands. Transportation systems in the Arctic have been developed to accommodate production on State lands. Some of the production from OCS tracts, as well as other Arctic lands, may be handled by the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. However, a number of additional transportation strategies are being considered, including the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, additional oil pipelines, and tanker transport. The pace of oil and gas production in the Arctic will depend in part on the number and type of transportation modes available. The support bases at Prudhoe Bay are expected to be used to some extent for future activities on the OCS. However, expanded and new facilities will also be required, depending on the location of discoveries on the OCS and on other Arctic lands. The impacts resulting from OCS activities in the Arctic will be particularly important because of their contribution to the regionwide and cumulative impacts arising from Federal onshore, State, and regional corporation oil and gas exploration, development, and production in the Arctic.

Alaska↗
USGS1981

Summary report on the regional geology, environmental considerations for development, petroleum potential, and estimates of undiscovered recoverable oil and gas resources of the United States southeastern Atlantic continental margin in the area of proposed oil and gas lease sale No. 78

This report summarizes our general knowledge of the geology and petroleum potential, as well as potential problems and hazards associated with development of petroleum resources, of the area proposed for nominations for lease sale number 78. This area includes the U.S. eastern continental margin from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to approximately Cape Canaveral, Florida, including the upper Continental Slope and inner Blake Plateau. The area for possible sales and the previous areas leased are shown in figure 1; physiographic features of the region are shown in figure 2. Six exploration wells have been drilled within the proposed lease area (figs. 3 and 4) but no commercial discoveries have been made. All six wells were drilled on the Continental Shelf in the Southeast Georgia Embayment. No commercial production has been obtained onshore in the region. The areas already drilled have thin sedimentary sections, and the deeper rocks are dominantly continental facies. Petroleum formation may have been hindered by a lack of organic material and sufficient burial for thermal maturation. Analysis of drill and seismic profiling data presented here, however, indicates that a much thicker sedimentary rock section containing a much higher proportion of marine deposits exists seaward of the exploratory wells on the Continental Shelf. These geologic conditions imply that the offshore basins may be more favorable environments for generating petroleum.

Open-File Report↗