K. Hendricks et Rh. Porter, THE TIMING AND INCIDENCE OF EXPLORATORY-DRILLING ON OFFSHORE WILDCAT TRACTS, The American economic review, 86(3), 1996, pp. 388-407
This paper documents exploratory drilling activity on offshore wildcat
oil and gas lenses in the Gulf of Mexico sold between 1954 and 1980.
We calculate the empirical drilling hazard function for cohorts in spe
cific areas. For each year of the lease, we study the determinants of
the decision whether to begin exploratory drilling and their relations
hip to the outcome of any drilling activity. Our results indicate that
equilibrium predictions of plausible noncooperative models are reason
ably accurate and more descriptive than those of cooperative models of
drilling timing. We discuss why noncooperative behavior may occur and
the potential gains from coordination.