Deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico: America's New Frontier Minerals Management Service

This paper describes the extent and types of oil and gas exploration and development activities that are taking place in the deepwater portion of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The impacts on the workload and demands on the Minerals Management Service (MMS), particularly the Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office, as a result of deepwater activities are just beginning to occur. The full magnitude of the impacts is not yet known, although some specific impacts are emerging and others can be anticipated.