Pros And Cons Of Offshore Drilling

Environmentalists are one the biggest critics against the notion of increasing domestic oil drilling. By increasing the amount of drilling we do in the United States, we increase the risk of disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Disasters are hardly the only source of economic damage either, to find oil reserves under the ocean, seismic waves are generated into the ground. These waves bounce off the ground back up to the ship, where computers and scientist can use the results to make educated guesses on whether or not oil is located under the surface. These seismic waves can wreak havoc with marine animals like whales; where in one case over 100 whales beached themselves to get away from the painful experience (Nixon). Using seismic waves does not even guarantee that oil might be located underneath the surface, the only way to tell is to actually drill into the potential finds causing even more destruction for what might be for no gain. Once oil is found and drilling has begun, the amount of damage done to the environment can become unimaginable. The recent example is that of the Deepwater

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 America has a car and cars needs gas to run. The oil reserves in the earth that are easily accessible via land are starting to run dry and are becoming harder to find. This is why we have begun to see more and more offshore oil drills. Although there are benefits of offshore drilling such as profit, lower gas prices, and becoming less dependent on foreign oil. There are also many drawbacks in which if something were to go wrong, the mistake would be catastrophic impacting the environment, the nature, and have trickling effects all around the world.

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

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

An offshore platform which is also known as oil rig is utilised on exploration oil and gas from under seabed and processing. It consists of facilities for drilling, storing and process as well as extracting product. The wells are drilled and platforms are constructed for the operation. An oil rig is constructed to draw out oil or gas from the seafloor.

    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

During World War II, the Gulf of Mexico was the main area for offshore drilling (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2013). Since most of these were wells were shallow waters, mostly 200 feet or less, were drained of all oil, many organizations moved to deeper waters. However, there are problems that come along with deep water drilling, such as not knowing how to operate and drill at that specific depth. The United States government says that a deep water well is anything 500 feet or more (Crandall et al, 2014). Because of their deep length, robots are sent to fix any maintenance problem that may occur. In 2010, there were more than 600 deep water wells in the Gulf of Mexico (Crandall et al, 2014).

There are many reasons why the Arctic oil drilling is going to disrupt the environment such as the danger of oil spills and immediate and long term problems all around the world.

Hydrosphere: Oil rigging does not provide any positive effects for the hydrosphere, only negative. When mining there is always a chance that an oil spill will occur. If this were to happen the water will become polluted, and poisonous to the biology inside the water. Along with that, the water will be removed of its dissolved oxygen making it hard for fish to breath.

Another benefit of offshore oil drilling consists of increasing job opportunities for people. The unstable economy in the United States results in people losing their jobs quite often. In the book Offshore Drilling, the loss of job opportunity in the United States is explained this way:

In addition to the common danger to any type of drilling, such as loss of use of land, lots of industrial waste, pollution and compromised quality of life for residents of the areas near the wells, there are also potentially associated risks to own

Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. Typically carried out in order to explore and extract petroleum which lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. The term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and inland

Economics and power are only part of the problem; oil spills are also a threat. Offshore drilling leaks in the ocean harm the environment, with the consequences lasting for years. These spills can affect a large area and a myriad of ecosystems. They kill birds and marine life, including fish eggs, larva, and other young. This damages the species’ population growth, as no infants means no new adults. Additionally, the oil can wash up on shores and pollute beaches. The oil can even get into the systems of the fish that humans eat (Greenpeace). On top of all that, even the best cleanup efforts aren’t sufficient. Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana’s campaign director, writes, “Once a blowout or other spill occurs, there are few if

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.