The western and central Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, is one of the major petroleum-producing areas of the United States. In 2007, federal leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico produced 25% of the nation's oil and 14% of the nation's natural gas. [10] In 2008, federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico produced 418 million barrels of oil, down from 568 million barrels in 2002; however, due to new deep-water discoveries, the MMS projects that oil production from the Gulf of Mexico will increase to 686 million barrels per year by 2013. [11]
Major fields include Atlantis Oil Field, and the Tiber oilfield (discovered 2009). Notable oil platforms include Baldpate, Bullwinkle, Mad Dog, Magnolia, Mars, Petronius, and Thunder Horse. Notable individual wells include Jack 2 and Knotty Head.
The eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Gulf Coast Florida, has never been a petroleum-producing area.
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