U.S. Department of the Interior Technical Announcement |
August 2004 | Contact: Debra Winbush (504) 736-2597 : |
Caryl Fagot (504) 736-2590 |
History of the Offshore Oil and Gas
Industry in Southern Louisiana
Interim Report
OCS Study MMS 2004-049 – 051
Volume I:
Papers on the Evolving Offshore Industry
Volume
II: Bayou Lafourche – An Oral History of the
Development of the Oil and Gas Industry
Volume
III: Samples of Interviews and Ethnographic Preferences
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, History of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana, Interim Report; Volume I: Papers on the Evolving Offshore Industry, Volume II: Bayou Lafourche – An Oral History of the Development of the Oil and Gas Industry, and Volume III: Samples of Interviews and Ethnographic Preferences.
The history of the offshore oil and gas industry is not well documented and the effects the industry has had on communities and families are known even less. The individuals who pioneered this industry are in their golden years and many are passing away. Going with them is the institutional knowledge of the creation of this industry. This is the first report of an MMS oral history project intended to provide an objective and comprehensive evaluation of the oil and gas industry through published works, documents, oral histories, and life stories. Its purpose is to aid MMS in understanding the consequences of the evolving industry on coastal communities and the economy.
Thousands of hours were spent by university researchers recording interviews, collecting written documents, and scanning photographs for digital images from the early days. These collections are being transcribed and organized for use by regulators, historians, scholars, industry analysts, and community officials. This three-volume interim report provides a glimpse of information to be received in more detail upon receipt of the final report, with topics ranging from hurricanes, technology and strategy of petroleum exploration in coastal and offshore Gulf of Mexico, salt domes, seismic exploration, history of State and Federal leasing in southern and offshore Louisiana, commercial diving, and oral histories as told by those who worked in the industry.
This report is available only in compact disc format. The
disc is available from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS
Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2004-049 – 051. 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.
Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Public Information Office (MS 5034) 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 Telephone requests may be placed at (504) 736-2519 or 1-800-200-GULF or FAX: (504) 736-2620 |
U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, Virginia 22161 (703) 487-4650 or FAX: (703) 321-8547 Rush Orders: 1-800-336-4700 |
The Minerals Management Service 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 American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.
MMS Main Website:
www.mms.gov
Gulf of Mexico Website:
www.gomr.mms.gov
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