Deepwater Program:  OCS-Related Infrastructure in the
Gulf of Mexico Fact Book
 

OCS Study MMS 2004-027

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Deepwater Program:  OCS-Related Infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico Fact Book.

Oil and gas exploration and production have occurred in parts of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) for over 100 years and in coastal waters and on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for the last 50 years.  During this period, a substantial network of support facilities, ports, pipelines, and processing facilities has developed to support offshore production.  The Fact Book describes the existing infrastructure in the GOM and how it supports offshore activities.  These data were collected in 2000 and 2001.  The Fact Book identifies 11 major infrastructure categories:

• Platform Fabrication Yards:  Facilities in which platforms are constructed and assembled for transportation to offshore areas.  Facilities can also be used for maintenance and storage.
   

• Port Facilities:  Major maritime staging areas for movement between onshore industries and infrastructure classifications and offshore leases.
   

• Shipyards and Shipbuilding Yards:  Facilities in which ships, drilling platforms, and crewboats are constructed and maintained.
   

• Support and Transport Facilities:  Facilities and services that support the offshore activities.  These include repair and maintenance yards, supply bases, crew services, and heliports.
   

• Waste Management Facilities:  Sites that process drilling and production wastes associated with offshore oil and gas activities.
   

• Pipelines:  Infrastructure that is used to transport oil and gas from offshore facilities to onshore processing sites, and ultimately to end users.
   

• Pipe Coating Yards:  Sites that condition and coat pipelines used to transport oil and gas from offshore production locations.
   

• Natural Gas Processing Facilities:  Sites that process natural gas and separate its component parts for the market.
   

• Natural Gas Storage Facilities:  Sites that store processed natural gas for use during peak periods.
   

• Refineries:  Industrial facilities that process crude oil into numerous end-use and intermediate use products.
   

• Petrochemical Facilities:  Industrial facilities that intensively use oil and natural gas, and their associated by-products, for fuel and feedstock purposes.

For each type of infrastructure, the Fact Book provides a description of typical features, a discussion of the industry characteristics associated with the infrastructure under examination, a discussion of salient government regulations, and an examination of current industry trends and future outlook.  The interactions between infrastructure types can be highlighted most clearly in terms of their functions, relative to offshore activities, rather than by their physical characteristics.  There are two major functions for most all onshore infrastructure types on the GOM: (1) those areas of infrastructure that support oil and gas activities and (2) those areas that are supported by offshore oil and gas activities.  The fortunes of the infrastructure businesses are closely tied to the offshore industry.  When the offshore industry experiences a downturn, so too do the supporting infrastructure businesses.

This report is available only in compact disc format.  The discs are available from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2004-027.  The report may be ordered through the Minerals Management Service’s on-line ordering system at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/WebStore/front.asp.  You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future.  Here are the addresses.  You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.