Safety
Technology has allowed continuous development and improvement of safety standards, programs, new technologies, and best practices to protect workers, the environment and marine life during the exploration process. Since 2010, more than 100 exploration and production industry standards were created or strengthened. In fact, offshore operations have safely coexisted with tourism, fishing industries, and the military for decades in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world.
Economy & Jobs
The potential benefits of exploring offshore South Carolina are:
- $113,000 AVERAGE SALARY PAID in the oil and natural gas exploration and development fields.
- OVER $2 BILLION A YEAR SPENT by the oil and natural gas industry directly into South Carolina’s economy within 20 years.
- NEARLY 34,000 JOBS CREATED spanning across industries including retail, health care, real estate, and food services.
- $1.5 BILLION WITHIN 20 YEARS in cumulative state and local tax revenues due to natural gas and oil industry spending.
- $3.8 BILLION IN ADDITIONAL STATE REVENUE cumulatively within 20 years if a revenue sharing agreement similar to other states is enacted*. This new steady revenue stream could be used to benefit education, roads, and workforce development.
National Security
Offshore energy exploration and production is a simple choice when the options are to either safely produce oil and natural gas here at home, or defer to hostile regimes outside the U.S.
There’s no question that U.S. oil and natural gas production plays a vital role in enhancing the national security interests of our nation and our allies around the world and increased development here at home has effectively curtailed the power of countries like Russia and Iran, who heavily rely upon energy as a geopolitical tool. And it can be done in a way that is compatible with the military and tourism.
In the central Gulf of Mexico, in close proximity to Texas and Louisiana ports and military bases, 36 percent of leases are located in military use areas, and military training has been carried out successfully and without conflict.
Despite any misconception, the DoD takes the position that it supports offshore oil and natural gas development so long as oil and natural gas operations are compatible with military training.
And DoD is who in fact determines whether oil and natural gas operations are compatible by extensively studying the offshore areas and developing a compatibility report.
Our nation has come a long way in advancing our national security interests through the development of U.S. oil and natural gas resources, especially our offshore energy resources and exploring off the coast of South Carolina would be another step in the right direction to energy and national security.
*Assumes a 37.5% revenue sharing of bonuses, rents and royalties similar to Gulf states without an annual cap.