All at Sea

This article explores oil production options in the American waters. Survey shows that there is significant oil production in the waters of the North Sea and the Bight of Bonny in Nigeria, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. However, the figure published for proved reserves is generally far lower than what geologists believe is available. Proved reserves are restricted to oil and gas that can be commercially recovered from known fields using existing methods under prevailing government regulations. The Minerals Management Service tries to estimate the amount of recoverable energy found in the wind, waves, and tides. The Department of the Interior report makes use of data from the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which has estimated the wind resource both on land and at sea, as well as other recent studies. The Department of the Interior's report suggests that the biggest offshore energy source is wind, not oil. It remains to be seen whether calls to exploit that resource will be catchy.