The Gulf Coast Basin has long been one of the world's major oil and gas provinces with both onland and offshore portions drilled extensively. About 120 billion BOE of hydrocarbons have been produced to date - 50 billion barrels of oil, 315 TCF of natural gas, and 10 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.

Despite extensive exploration and production to date, there is still substantial potential for future discovery and for extended reserve growth from existing fields. We now estimate that the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons from the Basin will exceed 230 billion barrels, meaning a future potential roughly equal to historical production to date. Of the remaining resource base in the Basin, 20 percent exists as currently proven reserves, 45 percent will come from future discoveries, and 35 percent will come from reserve growth from existing fields, both oil and gas. About 70 percent of the remaining resources exist onshore and the balance offshore.

The remaining hydrocarbon resource base in the Gulf Basin, while large in the aggregate, will be converted to producible reserves in relatively small increments as most of the resource exists in small to moderate size fields, and in reserve growth from advanced recovery. Economies must be sought in continuing improved efficiencies of discovery and especially in recovery; economies of scale from large field discovery are largely behind us.

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