Using a 'Hybrid' Approach to Model Oil and Gas Supply: A Case Study of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf

"Hybrid" models of oil and gas supply combine an econometric model of exploration activity with a geologic/engineering model of the discovery process. The advantages of such models over either purely econometric or purely geologic/engineering approaches are their recognition of the regularities in the discovery process, their use of historical data to test the implications of the models, and their ability to generate time series forecasts without incorporating ad hoc constraints. A hybrid model of oil and gas supply on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf is developed and used to forecast future supplies to the year 2000.