main elements of the Louisiana economy are: the production of
minerals, particularly oil and natural gas, but also sulphur,
lime, salt and lignite; petroleum refining; chemical and
petrochemical manufacturing; tourism; forestry; pulp, plywood
and papermaking; agriculture and food processing; commercial
fishing; shipping and international trade; shipbuilding, and
general manufacturing. And Natural Gas And Minerals Production
contains just under 10 percent of all known U.S. oil reserves
and is the country's third largest producer of petroleum. Its
reserves of natural gas are even larger and it produces just
over one-quarter of all U.S. supplies. Louisiana also has
immense quantities of salt contained in huge underground
formations, some of which are a mile across and up to 50,000
feet deep and produce almost 100 percent pure rock salt. The
first sulphur mined in America came from Louisiana and the state
is still a principal producer of the mineral. petroleum
refineries produce enough gasoline annually (15 billi