Off Shore Drilling

English 102 Monday 6pm 2/13/2012 Domestic Oil Drilling: Benefits and Risks. Senator Everett Dirksen once noted “The oilcan is mightier than the sword”. In today’s world, it is easy to see why oil can be considered the most important resource to hold. Without oil, many of the common day occurrences we take for granted would be impossible. Oil is used for almost everything; from the fuel used to drive our vehicles, to the plastics used in every facet of life, and providing the heat needed to live through the winter. In fact, the United States depends so much on oil that as a nation it uses over 20 million barrels a day. Importing oil increases the total costs because of the need to transport it from around the world. It is estimated

As seen in different parts of the Earth, especially the sea, oil spills has caused a great deal of distress and complications. The risk of oil spills in the Arctic would be alarmingly high as technology has not caught up with the specific needs that the cold, below zero temperatures would bring. If an oil spill did in fact happen, the cleanup would likely be impossible. To this day, researchers at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) stated that there is no fast, effective method to clean and contain an oil spill in icy water (Panda.org “Arctic Oil and Gas”). Response in this remote area would likely be a reaction far too slow for the damage it causes. Distance on the firsthand to this area is the biggest key player, the Arctic areas that are undeveloped will likely pose for sites far away from civilized area. Being this far away takes supplies much longer times to get there. Ice acts as a barrier to get to areas in the Arctic, needing special icebreaker ships to break through the thick ice to get to the certain regions during the winter. This distance coupled with ice means it would take more than days or weeks. By an oil spill happening, more than humans would be damaged as animals would greatly be devastated as well. In the past, events like BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused over eighty-two thousand birds being harmed. A spill in the

Offshore drilling has become an essential part of today’s oil production and demand for energy. With the growth of population comes the increasing demand for oil. The oil industry today, is one of the most used providers of energy. Today in the 20th century the majority of the population in

Consequences of Oil Drilling Many seafood companies prices fluctuate because a whole number of reasons. Have you ever thought why though? They even have to take some foods completely off their menus. A lot of the time this is because of an oil spill that kills so much of the environment that a lot of the sea animals die or even become endangered. The BP Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 is a great example of this. It spilled 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 87 days. The area of the spill alone had over 8,000 species, which already had 39 endangered species and added 14 new species to the endangered list. Not only did we lose animals but “Eleven people died as a result of the accident and 17 others were injured”(BP Staff).

Offshore oil drilling is a big contribution to obtaining oil for the U.S., but it is also a big controversy to continue offshore drilling or to stop the drilling. most of the world’s energy comes from the use of oil, even though there are other resources to use oil is the most commonly used, But there is a shortage in oil especially in the U.S. so they suggest drilling for oil in the ocean to reach unexplored oil wells. There are benefits in offshore oil drilling such as jobs, domestic fuel, and environmental benefits. Those that argue the U.S. should expand the offshore oil drilling believe that the benefits drilling brings will help the U.S. out of its foreign oil dependency. Although the side effects are have big impacts just like the benefits. The side effects include environmental risks, oil dependency, and whether or not there is enough oil. Offshore oil drilling is a subject not many know about, there is a lot of research that still needs to be done and a lot of research that still does not give positive conclusions. All in all I believe Energy Efficiency is the best solution to offshore drilling an example would be using electric cars, using solar, and wind power for electricity, and changing how we obtain energy altogether.

Offshore drilling is a topic of extreme debate and argument and one of the most debated parts of that is whether or not it benefits the economy in the U.S. One of the first things to note is that stopping offshore drilling could potentially damage the U.S. economy, and therefore how much energy we can overall use. According to Mason, Joseph R., author of, "The Oil Industry Supports Many Louisiana and Gulf Region Economies", we can see the statement, "the moratorium would produce broad economic losses within the Gulf and throughout the nation as a whole". We can gather, from this, that ceasing offshore drilling/offshore oil production, could potentially harm the U.S. economy, and as I said before the economy being damaged overall decides

Ross Hayman Mrs. Owens English 12 13 March 2017 Term paper The U.S. should invest in alternatives to oil, and drill on the United States grounds because it will assist the economy, preserve energy and fix the world’s environmental problems. The supply and demand for oil is always on the rise, and problems are contemplated with the use for oil. Those problems are starting to catch up to the modern world, and something needs to change before the world enters a black out. Experts can predict that there is estimated to be somewhere around 61 years of oil left for us to use at our current rate. The demand for oil is always rising. People in today’s modern society rely so heavily on oil, that they would not know what to expect if it

should be taken into consideration. As a result of fracking, the environment is being affected

Alaskan men have a long history of struggling to survive in the wilderness. Today, some, like the Gwich 'in, a native Alaskan tribe, still choose to live off nature. Recently, though a new argument has come to Alaska, one that could destroy the traditions of the Gwich’in forever. Politicians, environmentalists,

Currently, the United States is the largest importer of crude oil in the world, while it is only the 3rd largest producer. In 2013, while we imported 7.7 million barrels of oil a day, we only produced 7.5 million (Dakota Access). It is critical that we produce more and import less so we can be more self-sufficient in energy production and focus on our country’s economy, to benefit the American people.

Transition: Now that I have explained the problem and the solution you may still be wondering what the real benefit of off shore drilling is.

America must wean itself off of dependence on foreign oil, and one valid solution to this problem is offshore oil drilling and production. America’s economy is heavily based on petroleum, as though it is the nation’s blood; a necessity for survival. About 25% of oil produced in the U.S. comes from offshore rigs. Most of the U.S. coastline has been off limits for oil drilling since the early 1980s. Due to environmental concerns after an oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed. Since then, the U.S. has amplified its energy consumption to where it uses nearly 25% of the world's oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. produces about 10% of the world's oil. That has made the U.S. heavily reliant on imported

As a young girl comes out of the ocean from swimming, suddenly she notices the brown oily stains on her bathing suit. When she looks back into the water, tar balls flow with the current of the water. The girl automatically washes the toxins off of her body, and she

Since the past few decades, owning a car has become a necessity in order to commute from one place to another. However, cars do not work automatically, they require fuel. Since the past decade, the petroleum industry has become one of the leading industries impacting the nation’s economy. Oil has become an essential commodity as it is utilized in transportation vehicles, serves as a raw material for manufacturing plastics, and is utilized in homes for cooking. America’s economy is greatly dependent on petroleum as it is the “black gold” of the nation. The considerable significance of oil has led to the drilling of it, which is not only limited to land, but also the oceans. Offshore drilling is a method in which petroleum is extracted from underneath the seabed. It is one of the significant technological advancements in the past few decades. However, the ones who are involved in the process of offshore oil production are humans, and humans tend to make mistakes. In 1969, due to a human error, an oil spill occurred and natural gas, oil, and mud shot up the well and oozed into the ocean (“Offshore Drilling”). The oil spilled led to an environmental disaster which killed thousands of marine animals and distorted the environment. In order to prevent the same error, the government passed a moratorium in 1981, banning more than 85 percent of the country’s oil drilling sites (“Offshore Drilling”). The moratorium restricted the United States to mass-produce its natural resource.

We need oil because it burns to produce energy. We use it to run a vehicle, to heat a building, and to produce electric power in a generator. My family use it for our car which is important because our car gets us to school, my mother to work, and my sisters to their school activities. Oil is also used as a raw material to create products such as plastics, and hundreds of other intermediate goods. Those goods include; paint for houses, carpets, trash bags, and tool boxes. Some other materials that are made from oils are hair coloring, nail polish, shampoo, and vitamin capsules. One of the main types of oils we use everyday is gasoline. Gasoline is the main petroleum product consumed in the United States. Another type of oil consumed is distillate fuel oil, which includes diesel fuel and heating oil. Diesel fuel is used in the diesel engines of heavy construction equipment, trucks, buses, tractors, boats, trains, some automobiles, and electricity generators. Heating oil, also called fuel oil, is used in boilers and furnaces to heat homes and buildings, for industrial heating, and for producing electricity. Hydrocarbon gas