California's Ocean Economy - California Resources Agency - State ...

NOEP
Offshore Minerals sector is a small hard minerals industry producing sand and gravel
primarily for construction aggregate. However, offshore sand and gravel estimates are not
separated from onshore, following the official federal economic statistics model.
The oil and gas industry has a deep-rooted history in California. With the first commercial
oil production on land in 1876, California established itself as an integral part of the national
petroleum industry. Petroleum is an important industry of the offshore minerals sector for
both California's local and global economy.
4.1.1 Production and Revenue from Offshore Oil and Gas Production
In 2001, among the six US states 20 that produce offshore oil and gas on Federal lands,
California ranked third behind Texas and Louisiana. California was the third largest
manufacturer of petroleum products with the value of shipments just under $26 billion per
year as of 2000. 21
Offshore oil production has remained an important part of the overall oil industry for the
state. Table 4-3 gives offshore oil production and Table 4-4 provides the proportion of
offshore-onshore production of crude oil in California from 1992 to 2001.
Offshore oil and gas production is further segmented into state and federal offshore
categories: 22 production facilities that are within 3 miles of the coast are taken as state
offshore production and production beyond 3 miles is defined as the federal offshore.
Federal oil production accounted for roughly two thirds of the total offshore production in
recent years. Tables 4-4 and 4-5 give the composition of state and federal offshore oil
production from 1992-2001.
20 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska. Onshore production occurs in additional states.
21 2001 Annual Report of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas,
and Geothermal Resources.
22 In the US, the legal offshore boundary for state jurisdiction is 3 miles; land beyond 3 miles is under federal
jurisdiction.
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