Opponents also argue that the Act encourages "offshore production."

The deepest offshore production thus far has been with a subsea system in 1,300 feet of water off Brazil.

Many experts caution that the amount of offshore production is tiny, compared with Hollywood's overall output.

The rise of the yen this year against the dollar and other leading currencies accelerated the shift to offshore production.

Oil companies in Africa investigate offshore production as an alternative area of production.

Oil is provided by both continental and offshore productions.

"But they have a long ways to go until they get offshore production up to a meaningful amount of the total."

Imports of gasoline from Europe and improved offshore production should also help increase supplies within the next few weeks.

Hurricanes, for example, can have an impact on the offshore production and exploitation of natural gas.

So instead of an export binge, the industry is more likely to go straight to offshore production in America and Europe.