368 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
line. Since that time, the State and Federal courts have disputed the location
of the coastline and the resulting line of demarcation between State and
Federal ownership of offshore leases. The United States and Louisiana have
approximately $1 billion in escrow, to be divided when the 3-mile line is
finally drawn. 
 
 Employment and Injuries.—The petroleum production, refining, and related
industries employed 101,100 workers in 1967, 2.900 more than in 1966. Employment
in the mineral production industry decreased slightly (from 50,352 to 50,274).
Oil and gas operations provided 92.4 percent of employment and 93.2 percent
of wages derived from mineral industries in 1967. 
 Labor-management and inter-union jurisdictional disputes in 1967 severely
curtailed 
petrochemical industry growth in the Baton Rouge-Geismar area. Construction
companies halted all jobs in the troubled area for 6 weeks following a union
jurisdictional dispute. The Governor called a special session of the Legislature
to help solve the problem. The session passed an act establishing the Labor-Management
Commission of Inquiry. On July 24, the Governor arranged a Memorandum of
Understanding between the unions and the contractors' association, and work
was resumed. 
 In February, fire swept an offshore platform located 40 miles southeast
of Cameron, in the Gulf of Mexico, killing five men and injuring 10 others.
On August 8, an explosion and fire occurred at the big Cities Service Lake
Charles refinery. The casualty count was six killed and 14 injured. 
 
REVIEW BY MINERAL COMMODITIES 
 
MINERAL FUELS 
 
 New records for production and value were established for all mineral fuels
io 1967. At yearend, 1,281 oilfields and gasfields in the State had output
from 39,706 wells (40,040 in 1966). North Louisiana had production from 13,803
oil wells and 4,599 natural gas wells; south Louisiana had production from
12,096 oil and 3,492 natural gas wells onshore, and 4,771 oil and 945 natural
gas wells offshore. 
 
 Leasing Activity 3.—In the north Louisiana area, leasing of acreage
blocks remained active in East Carroll, West Carroll, and Madison Parishes.
Leasing in the Sligo (Lower Cretaceous) trend of Winn, Natchitoches, and
Jackson Parishes was still very active. Terms of leases and lease bonuses
remained stable, bonus prices generally ranging from $5 to $50 per acre.

 In south Louisiana onshore, leasing activity decreased slightly. The State
held five lease sales in 1967. At these sales, 127,215 acres sold for a total
bonus of $15,- 
110,803, or $118.78 per acre. The Federal Government held a sale of acreage
in Zones III and IV on June 13, 1967, where more than 744,000 acres were
sold for a record total bonus of $510,079,177, an average price of $685.17
per *acre. Highest price for a single 5,000-acre tract was $6,500 per acre
paid for Ship Shoal Block 207. 
 Exploration, Development, and Reserves. 
—According to the International Oil Scouts Association, 20 percent
of the 1,061 exploratory holes drilled for oil and gas (statewise and offshore)
were productive. Inland, 693 exploratory holes (16 percent productive) opened
24 new fields—four oil and nine gas discoveries in north Louisiana,
and three oil and eight gas discoveries in south Louisiana. Offshore, 368
exploratory holes (26 percent productive) opened six new fields—all
oil. 
 Of the 2,421 development (field) wells drilled, 68 percent were productive.
Inland, 1,724 development wells were drilled—64 percent were successful;
offshore, 697 were drilled—76 percent were successful. 
 The Louisiana Department of Conservation granted 4,639 permits to drill
for hydrocarbons during the year (4,963 in 1966). There were 1,068 producing
wells abandoned, compared with 1,195 in 1966. 
 In north Louisiana, activity declined to the lowest level in 20 years in
exploratory and development drilling. Approximately one-half the total drilling
was in Concordia, Catahoula, La Salle, Grant, Winn, and Caldwell Parishes.
Nearly all these wells were drilled to test the Wilcox. Development drilling
at Caddo-Pine Island field, one of most active areas of Upper 
 
 Adapted from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin,
v. 52, No. 6, June 1968.