Major oil and gas companies are shifting their exploration and production (E&P) investment from the United States to foreign countries. As they do so, smaller companies, "independents," are expected to play a more prominent role in domestic E&P. Within both industry and government circles the...

Accidents on offshore oil and gas platforms have declined dramatically during the past decade, yet concern about safety and environmental damages from offshore operations seems to have intensified. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, some of this concern is premised on an offshore restructuring caused...

This paper investigates the effects of changes in crude oil prices and offshore oil and gas production on the economic performance of U.S. Coastal Gulf States Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. The empirical results do not provide statistical evidence to reject the hypothesis that...