Future possible hydrocarbon provinces of the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean region include: (1) offshore Late Jurassic-middle Cretaceous reef extension of the Golden Lane, eastern Mexico; (2) additional Panuco-Ebano-type fields in Late Jurassic-middle Cretaceous basinal carbonate facies of eastern Mexico; (3) additional Poza Rica-type fields in intertonguing zones between Late Jurassic-middle Cretaceous reef carbonates and basinal carbonate facies of eastern Mexico; (4) Parras and similar types of basins, associated with structure and stratigraphic traps, in the Late Jurassic-Tertiary sequence of eastern Mexico; (5) new pay zones in the Rio Grande embayment; (6) Cretaceous reef buildups and other types of stratigraphic traps around the San Marcos arch, Sabine uplift, and Wiggin arch; (7) reef and stratigraphic traps along the Cretaceous trends of Texas and Louisiana in the areas between the arches and uplifts named, and extending offshore in the West Florida shelf area; (8) pre-Monroe "gas rock" plays in the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Paleozoic of northeastern Louisiana, southeastern Arkansas, and northwestern Mississippi; (9) Jurassic-Cretaceous-early Tertiary reefs and sandstone trends in the Florida parishes of Louisiana; (10) exploration of the pre-Werner or pre-Louann Salt sequence along the interior part of the Gulf Coastal plain; (11) additional Poth Sand-type plays in the downdip marine Wilcox of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana; (12) downdip sandstone trends in the post-Wilcox of the Gulf Coast geosyncline, both offshore and onshore; (13) deep water drilling to both shallow and deep objectives beneath the outer continental shelf and the upper continental slope; (14) Cretaceous and Jurassic of Mississippi-Alabama-northern Florida; (15) offshore drilling for Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary reefing on the West Florida shelf; (16) Bahamas platform; (17) Mesozoic-Tertiary carbonates along the north coast of Cuba; (18) Late Cretaceous-Tertiary marine basins in Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and Trinidad; (19) offshore drilling east and south of Trinidad; (20) Orinoco delta, both onshore and offshore; (21) Gulf of Paria; (22) further exploration in Barinas basin of southwestern Venezuela; (23) additional exploration of Cretaceous and Tertiary trends in Eastern Venezuela and Maracaibo basins, as well as drilling f the Gulf of Venezuela; (24) Tertiary basins of South Central America orogen; (25) Nicaragua Rise from Nicaragua-Honduras to Jamaica; (26) Tabasco (Mexico)-Peten (Guatemala) fold belt; (27) offshore and onshore British Honduras, including Sarstun embayment; (28) Yucatan Peninsula and Campeche Bank; and, ultimately, (29) exploration of the Sigsbee diapirs, central Gulf of Mexico.

Not all of these areas listed can be considered to have equal potential. Considering only those areas where 20 or less exploratory tests have been drilled, more than 250,000 sq mi, an area the size of Texas, is relatively unexplored. Including areas where exploratory drilling ranges from 21 wells to extensive drilling, more than 500,000 additional sq mi have not been explored completely. This is a total of 750,000 sq mi which remains to be explored carefully before pessimistic attitudes are justified.

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