U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

Gulf of Mexico Oil Production Rose Again in 2000; Gas Production Declining

MMS Regional Director Chris Oynes announced today that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico rose again to record levels in 2000.  "The phenomenal rise in oil production from the Gulf of Mexico has continued although the rise has slowed a bit in 2000," said Oynes.  Oynes noted that an estimated 522 million barrels of oil was to have been produced in calendar year 2000; up about 5.5 percent over the 495 million barrels in 1999.

"The rise in oil production occurred solely because of the tremendous increase coming from the deepwater area (greater than 1000 feet).  Deepwater oil production grew 20 percent to 270.9 million barrels in 2000 as compared to 1999."

Oynes continued that "natural gas production in the Gulf continued its decline for the third straight year to a level of an estimated 4.88 TCF in 2000, a decline of 3.4 percent since 1999.  Shallow water gas production continued its steep decline.  It was 7.4 percent lower in 2000 than 1999 and has declined 18.8 percent since 1996."  Attached is a table of the production by year.

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases.  These collections totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.

Gas Production
Gulf of Mexico
1995 – 2000
(In TCF)

e = estimate

Oil Production
Gulf of Mexico
1995 – 2000
(In Millions of Barrels)

e = estimate