The disposition of offshore lands is one of the decade's most im- portant and controversial natural resource policy issues. Several disputes focus on the economic effects of federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing policy. This paper addresses one of these disputes-how will OCS leasing policy affect the structure of the petroleum industry? This paper presents and summarizes an econometric model that evaluates the competitive implications of alternative OCS leasing policies. Specifically, it seeks to explain the differential bidding success of the major, minor, and independent oil companies.1 The following determinants of OCS access were evaluated.
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