The Energy Information Administration, (ElA) commissioned IHS Global Inc. (lHS) to perform a study of upstream costs associated with key basins and plays located in the United State, namely the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Marcellus, Permian Basin and deep water Gulf of Mexico (GOM). As explained by ElA, one of the primary purposes of this study is to help EIA analysts with cost analyses and projections that the organization is required to provide.