Oil Is A Natural Resource Obtained By Drilling Underground

The fossil fuels contain high percentage of carbon and include coal, oil, and natural gas, are the major source of energy that power our modern society. Fossil fuel range from low carbon to hydrogen ratio like methane, to liquid petroleum, to almost pure carbon like coal. Petroleum, such as natural gas and crude oil, contains a mix of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbon deposits underneath the earth surface, such as oil and natural gas, is search by petroleum geologist and geophysics, called hydrocarbon exploration and oil exploration.

Americans have been drilling for oil for more than half of their existence. Before the 1850’s oil was of little use and had no market for commerce as there was not one overwhelming use for it. Until around the 1850’s, when technology advanced, with it sparking search for one of the most sought after natural resources that countries would later go to war over, petroleum oil. Early inventions like the kerosene lamp provided a new stable home necessity to live by, increasing the demand for crude oil. This would be met in part by Colonel Edwin Drake, who drilled the first successful oil well in 1858. While Drake’s invention for extracting crude oil from the ground would bring about a new era for industrialization, his “black gold” would bring about an even larger effect, the environmental disasters caused by man. For over one hundred and fifty years of drilling for oil, both on shore and offshore, has led to some of the worst catastrophes to both nature and mankind. While many of these catastrophes have led to the deaths of hundreds of crew members, they have also led to long lasting effects on the environment, local and national economies, legislation, regulations, and human morale. These following effects can be seen in the most recent and most contaminated marine oil spill in history. To the media and public it’s known as the British Petroleum offshore drilling oil spill in 2010.

Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the

Offshore oil drilling is a controversial topic because when oil spills, it does extensive amounts of damage to the environment. Countries capable of mining oil in the ocean reap the economic benefits in addition to reducing their dependency on external oil. While it is uncontroversial that offshore drilling is a massive boon for those countries, the environmental consequences of a spill also affect the economic welfare of nearby residents. Oil contaminates animals through a process called biomagnification, where chemicals progressively become more detrimental to the animals the higher they are on the food chain. When oil spills into the ocean, it impairs the growth of native species and deteriorates the ecosystem. As a result, the livelihood of people in the tourist industry, fisherman, and shrimpers is crippled and may take decades to recover.

The demand for oil is ever expanding as the world’s energy needs continue to increase resulting in companies striving to meet the demand for oil production. The huge costs of oil importation are what ultimately push the need to tap into our backyard rather than import oil from countries around the world for significantly higher prices. While oil corporations can be credited with providing people minimized costs of products due to their offshore oil drilling efforts. The fact of the matter is that having a cleaner environment is seen as being more vital than having a cheaper product at the cost of an unhealthier environment. Though, many experts agree that the potential risks of offshore oil drilling are often exaggerated, recent disasters such as the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill have proven

Oil constantly surrounds consumers throughout the world, whether it be in transportation, electricity, and heating. Since consumers use, transportation, electricity, and heating every day, the demand for oil has surged and thus, multiple companies race to provide this dark elixir promptly. As all thoughts concentrate on the speed in which oil becomes transported, reckless mistakes happen, which swiftly unleashes the toxic elixir into the ocean. The oil then resides in the water with death looming over its shoulder; countless birds, mammals, and fish become poisoned by the oil, which proves lethal. However, an antidote, colonies of microscopic bacteria that consume oil can be used to clean the oil pollution. Although oil satisfies humans with

In the United States oil consumption is an everyday occurrence, for every citizen. Our country without oil would not be able to function properly within all aspects of life. Our political, transportation and economics systems would all encounter drastic affects if there were no oil to transform into petroleum. Due to our huge dependency on petroleum products, oil companies like British Petroleum (BP), Exxon Mobil, and Saudi Aramco hold extreme power over many countries and make billions off our need to live our daily lives. The extraction of oil from these companies are causing life altering effects for future generations, by causing major environmental complications. Each of the three main oil companies have experienced oil spills that were damaging to the environments around them and gain the global attention, because of the size of the oils spills and the lack of effort to accurately clean the spills.

Indigenous Beings and Animals: Furthermore, In “Oil Extraction and Indigenous Livelihoods in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon” the article speaks about how the constant drilling for oil and extraction of minerals, constantly penetrates into the lives of indigenous people, undermining their lives and well being. This article proves my point that by the constant need to destroy our planet by extracting oil, the lives of those around it are being affected. Factors such as pollution and contamination as well as deforestation causes the indigenous people to move from their homes, and it affects those that don 't, through diseases and other side effects of the exploitation of oil. In essence, this either means that our society thinks less of the

2005). It’s a sticky substance, when it gets on something it acts like a glue. With such a massive concentration of oil, which was about 11 million gallons of oil, it had a huge effect on marine life and plants. Oil has herbicides, which are chemicals that kill plants and when they’re exposed to such a huge amount of it, it can affect a big area of plants on the shoreline and underwater. Oil has lower density than water, it will float when it’s mixed with it. It blocks sunlight and air from reaching the underwater pants. It does not allow plants to photosynthesize. Without photosynthesis, plants aren’t able grow or get oxygen so they will end up dying (Effect of oil spills on aquatic plants 2014). Oil affects the way most marine animals breathe and grow and can leave a sub lethal effect on them without killing them (How does oil impact marine life? 2014). Such a chemical like oil affects the way on how birds and marine life do in cold water like keeping a certain temperature. The study of chemical risks, or toxicology shows that without this ability to maintain a certain temperature they will die from hyperthermia. Oil is like a poison to marine life, and if it doesn’t kill the animal it leaves long lasting effects on them. With the huge dose most of these animals took of the oil, it led to a lot of deaths. This oil spill showed a lot of persistence because even after 30 years, the water was still contaminated with

During use, new oil picks up toxic chemicals, carcinogenic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals which harm the environment and public health when used oil is disposed of improperly. One pint of oil can produce a slick covering approximately one acre of water. Used oil in waterways threatens fish, waterfowl, insects and aquatic life. In salt water, oil kills the microscopic plankton and algae that form the base of the marine food web. Very small amounts of oil spilled in the habitat of fish and shellfish can contaminate their flavor. Used oil seeps through landfills and soils to contaminate groundwater supplies. One quart of oil can foul the taste and purity of 250,000 gallons of water. Used oil applied to roads as a dust suppressant causes water

1. The extraction of oil is disruptive to the environment and can destroy natural habitats.

One of the most efficient approaches to was found to be Bioremediation (1). Nearly 70 miles of ocean and the shorelines were treated nutrients to aid the microorganisms in degrading the large amount of oil (7). “Two fertilizers were selected for full-scale bioremediation: the oleophilic fertilizer Inipol EAP22, manufactured by Elf Aquitaine of France; and the slow release fertilizer Customblen 28-8-0, manufactured by Sierra Chemicals in California” (3). The fertilizer addition displayed considerable results as the sediment samples that within the first days of restoration and weeks following the spill, the hydrocarbon concentration of the oil spilled in Prince William Sound had been reduced by 25-30%. During the summer 1990, massive applications of fertilizer consisted of over 1400 individual site treatments at 378 shoreline segments. “Measurements in September of 1990 showed that the proportion of oil degrading bacteria had returned to background levels of under 1% of the total bacterial populations in pore waters” (2). Nearly 220 separate site treatments were applied in 1991. “By 1992 the length of shoreline still containing any significant amount of oil was 6.4 mi (10.2 km) or 1.3% of the shoreline oiled in 1989” (2). From the year 1989 to 1991, approximately 107,000 pounds of fertilizer was used to treat the pollution

    At some point in our daily activities, we all draw upon a reserve of one or more of earth's natural resources, One of the most crucial of these being crude oil. It and its derivatives are used as primary sources of energy and thus, crude oil it is constantly in high demand. In order to meet this demand in the most economical fashion, oil companies have made offshore drilling into a common practice. However, offshore drilling is devastating to the environment in several ways. As a result of the equipment and methods used to extract the oil, high levels of pollution are released into the ocean, disturbing nearby ecosystems. Secondly, the high level of drilling is consistently

Throughout the years the government has spent millions of dollars on oil drilling. But what is the actual purpose of oil drilling? Is it necessary? Are we spending too much money on this one project or is it useful in the end? These questions have been debated so much over and over again. But the question is am I for or against oil drilling? Oil drilling takes up too much time and money for one simple purpose. It takes time and a workload to even begin this process. In order to perform a normal oil drilling process you have to find a land that has to be cleared and leveled, water must be nearby, if there is no water the crews have to dig water well, and lastly

More than 700,000 gallons of this dispersant was used above the sea surface and near the well head below the surface. Dispersants break up large globs of oil into smaller droplets to greater bacterial access and easier consumption, potentially increasing the rates of oil degradation. Surface area to volume ratio of oil greatly impacts the rate of bioremediation [1]. These chemicals, however, are highly toxic and have even been banned in the United Kingdom. Studies have shown that two years after the spill, artificial dispersants had increased the oil toxicity by 52 times [5].