Overview
	2006 Assessment Results
	2006 Assessment Maps
	Historic Review and Table
	Methodology
	Reports to Congress

Historic Review

Historically, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has completed eight comprehensive OCS resource assessments since 1976 among which six assessments were completed by MMS since its inception in 1982 (see Table of Historic Results (607.75 KB PDF). These “National” assessments are the results of a multiyear effort by MMS’s geoscientists, engineers , economists and mathematicians working together in order to assess the undiscovered crude oil and natural gas resources of the Nation’s OCS areas. Two of the early (pre-1982) assessments were done concurrently with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to estimate the undiscovered oil and natural gas resources of the US onshore areas as well as the adjacent waters within the boundaries of the coastal States.

And although multiple assessments exist, there is not a sound basis for comparing those assessments due to changes in methodology over time and fundamental changes in the underlying data. Since 1982, when MMS was created, the geological and geophysical (G&G) information available to government assessors has increased dramatically. G&G data have allowed MMS to expand considerably its knowledge regarding the resource potential of the OCS. The biggest volumes of these data have been confined predominantly to the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico as well as to Southern California.

Early DOI resource assessments focused on reporting estimates of undiscovered economically recoverable resources (UERR). But the oil and natural gas prices have experienced considerable volatility since the initial assessment was completed. As a result, assessments reporting UERR typically utilized different prices and sets of economic conditions. The frequency of developing new resource estimates could not keep pace with changes in oil and gas prices. Beginning with the 1996 assessment, the MMS RE Program focused primarily on reporting estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable resources (UTRR). In an attempt to present a more complete picture of the total hydrocarbon endowment, assessment reports also included estimates of cumulative production, reserves, and reserves appreciation.

Undiscovered technically recoverable resources refer to quantities of hydrocarbon resources expected to be present in undiscovered pools within a play, using technology and exploration and development efficiency available or reasonably foreseeable at the time of the assessment. No explicit consideration for economic viability was implied in the estimation of the undiscovered technically recoverable resources. The estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable resources are presented as a range of values corresponding to different probabilities of occurrence.

Undiscovered economically recoverable resources are the portion of undiscovered technically recoverable resources that can be explored, developed, and commercially produced at given cost and price considerations using present or reasonably foreseeable technology. The estimates of economically recoverable resources are presented as a range of resource values corresponding to different resource prices.

The period covered by the assessments is one in which the oil and gas industry’s technology capabilities expanded immensely. Today the oil and gas industry possesses the ability to drill exploratory wells in water depths exceeding 10,000 feet and to exploit discoveries in over 7,500 feet. The use of three-dimensional (3-D) and other advanced seismic data and interpretation techniques has served as a catalyst to transform the geosciences and the petroleum industry. Resource assessment techniques also became more sophisticated during the same period. Therefore over the time frame of these assessments, the magnitude of resources believed to be technically recoverable continued to grow dramatically with each assessment.