Due to the 2010 drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent permitting slowdown, U.S. offshore drilling was estimated at 6%, or $8.9 billion, of global offshore oil and natural gas investment of $146 billion last year, according to a new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API). While the offshore industry is taking it on the chin, onshore drilling activity in the U.S. is on the upswing.

Prior to the moratorium, which was imposed in May 2010, the U.S. was projected to account for 12% of the worldwide offshore oil and natural gas investment in 2011, “which is much more in line with the offshore resource base in the Gulf of Mexico,” said the report, “The State of the Offshore U.S. Oil and Gas Industry,” by Sugar Land, TX-based energy consultant Quest Offshore.

The effects of the deepwater drilling moratorium and permit slowdown have reduced total capital and operating expenditures in the Gulf of Mexico by a combined $18.3 billion for 2010 and 2011 compared to pre-moratorium projections, it said.

Since 2010, 11 deepwater drilling rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico and gone to countries such as Brazil, Egypt and Angola. Through 2015, the investment in other regions instead of the U.S. associated with these rigs is estimated to be more than $21.4 billion, including drilling spending and associated project equipment orders, even accounting for the portion of equipment that will likely be manufactured in the U.S., the Quest study said.

Employment in the Gulf also has been on the skids, it said. As a result of the decrease in investment due to the moratorium, total U.S. employment is estimated to have fallen by 72,000 jobs in 2010 and by approximately 90,000 jobs last year.

If there were a return to pre-moratorium permitting rates, the number of shallow water projects delayed would drop to 37 from 85 between 2012 and 2015, and to nine from 48 for the deepwater, according to Quest.

“The increased number of projects [permitted] would increase investment in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas industry by over $15.6 billion from 2012-2015. This additional investment would increase average annual U.S. employment between 17,000 and 49,000 jobs per year over that time period,” the study said.

But onshore drilling performance on public lands was significantly better last year, according to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The 32 onshore oil and gas lease sales held in 2011 resulted in $256 million in revenue for the federal government, the agency said. This was 20% higher than the $213 million in revenues generated for the federal coffers in 2010.

The BLM plans to hold 32 oil and gas lease sales this year, offering thousands of parcels in California, Colorado, the eastern states, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

The Institute for Energy Research, which is funded by a trust set up by private energy company Koch Industries, disputed BLM’s claims, saying the number of lease sales on public lands and the revenue from them have “steadily decreased” over the years.

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