The Drilling Of The Oil

Oil and natural gas companies have developed a way to drill for natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture consisting of methane and several other hydrocarbons that occur naturally underground. Natural gas is used as fuel for heating, cooking, and even in some automobiles like the “RideOn” buses. This technique has only recently become economically feasible with the rising prices of fossil fuels, and there is much potential for recovering natural gas through fracking. However, fracking has many waste products and unusual side effects caused by the unnatural forces and materials used. Fracking has a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment through

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.

The way of drilling through the earth’s surface and water using hydraulics, high-pressure system, and chemicals to obtain natural gasses and oil is a heated debate. North Carolina citizens are against this type of energy because it does have many risks involved not only to the environment, but to the wildlife, and the citizens in the surrounding area as well. With the drilling has the potential to spills harmful wastewater and can pollute rivers and lakes which North Carolinians take pride in. The methane gas stirred loose during the drilling process can end up in tap water, causing it to ignite (Environment of N.C.,

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

Majority of the data available online is either too biased or not peer reviewed and hence misleading to the readers. Natural gas is a very valuable resource and can be combined with engineering innovations to vastly improve human life. For instance, natural gas can help enhance energy efficiency by making the methane and ethane conversion process more effectual and economic. Also, natural gas can be used to generate hybrid high-temperature fluids for cleaner sources of energy such as solar thermal as well as natural gas powered systems for effective cooling and heating applications.3 In this age of technology, it is extremely important to discover ways to augment the potential of natural gas while taking the environmental implications into consideration. Sustainable ways should be developed to generate cleaner and more efficient energy while still embracing the economics benefits of the industry. While considering economic benefits of the hydraulic fracturing industry, it is also of utmost importance to consider those who are residing in areas of current or future shale gas operations for detrimental effects to their health and

Humans are a poisonous sludge, slowly poisoning ourselves and all other inhabitants. There are many ways we do this, offshore oil drilling being one of them. Offshore oil drilling is the process of drilling into the earth and pulling up petroleum, a natural fuel source made of decomposed organisms. While there are many positive effects, there are too many negative ones for oil drilling to continue. Offshore oil drilling is too dangerous to be considered safe for use in the ecosystem. Not only is it too dangerous, oil rigs are made in an environment many would deem too hazardous for settling any type of structure. Oil drilling kills many people each year and pollutes the marine environment, killing the oceans natural inhabitants.

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.

As fracking is a good process of drilling natural gas, there must be questions like, “Is natural gas alternative?” “How long could people keep drilling?” “Is it environmental friendly?” Actually natural gas is alternative energy and natural form of energy, which can be used to replace traditional fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel (Fracking, 2014a). , The use of natural gas will benefit environment by reducing the harmful polluting emission, for example, SO2 and NO released into the atmosphere. The main constitute of natural gas is CH4 which is less threatening compared with conventional fossil fuel like coal. For the amount of the natural gas, it is very tough to measure the precise data, but new technologies are available everyday. What’s more, there are more rules and new standards of fracking by EPA. Howard Feldman, regulatory director of the American Petroleum Institute, said the EPA would phase in the requirements, requiring all oil and natural-gas wells to be in compliance by January 2015

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

Not even covering the danger of accidents the process in which oil is drilled is dangers in itself to the environment. During the process of drilling offshore, “each drill well generates tens of thousands of gallons of waste drilling muds (materials used to lubricate drill bits and maintain pressure) and cuttings. Drilling muds contain toxic metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium that may bioaccumulate and biomagnify in marine organisms, including in our seafood supply.”(Natural Resources Defense Council 2009)

This day and age, oil is what makes the world go around. Without it, people cannot travel, be able to use fuel oils for electricity and heating, there would not be asphalt roads, and also there would not be chemicals used to make plastics, or other synthetic materials that humans use every day. Oil is a useful resource but the ways that are used to obtain it are not very appealing. One way it is obtained is by offshore drilling. According to an article on WiseGeek.com, “What is Offshore Oil Drilling?” offshore drilling “is an oil extraction technique which allows oil companies to access deposits of oil buried under the ocean floor.” Underneath all that, there are problems, the environment is being hurt. Offshore oil drilling may be useful; but the effects of it are bad for life on earth.

When the oil and gas companies drill for oil, they also get a byproduct of drilling is natural gas. This gas can be used to generate power and then those power can resell as electricity; but this conversion process requires a lot of investment such as pipelines, power plants, and infrastructure. However some oil Company just sell the oil and burn the gas because it’s cheap compare to extract it, which is called gas flaring. Flaring and venting of natural gas is a wasted resource from an economic viewpoint and also responsible for polluting the environment. Every year, roughly about 140-150 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas is flared into the atmosphere which account for 1% of global carbon emissions gas flaring. Gas flaring is most “commonly used during petroleum refining and chemical processing for safe disposal of waste gases during process upsets, plant start-up or shutdown and process emergencies.” (Ismail 290) Flaring started in order to ensure safe operations at production facilities as well as minimize undesirable venting.

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that plays a critical role in the demand and supply of energy in the United Sates. It is considered to be a clean burning transition fuel. Compared to coal and oil, natural gas combustion does not generate as much pollution and is therefore considered an ideal partner for renewable energy resources. Natural gas is extracted from shale formations underground that require horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – “hydrofracking” or “fracking”. This drilling and extraction method is currently considered a global widespread issue due to the rapid increase in the amount of new gas wells that threatens the quality of water around the source (Entriken, Evans-White, Johnson & Hagenbuch, 2011).

Crude oil is the most common petroleum product that is found in oil spills. Crude oil is a complex mix of hydrocarbons with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen and traces of inorganic and organometalic compounds. There are three classes of hydrocarbons: alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics. Alkanes, in low concentrations, cause anesthesia and narcosis, and in high concentrations, cell damage and death, in marine invertebrates. Alkenes, which are not typically found in crude oil but in refined products such as gasoline, are more toxic than alkanes, but less toxic than aromatics. Aromatics are not common in nature but they can kill ocean organisms, not only at full strength, but in diluted concentrations as well. Aromatics are the most immediately toxic component found in oil (Boesch, Hershmer, et. al. 1974).

The petroleum industry has begun to shift into more challenging circumstances in which to drill, complete, and produce hydrocarbons from the well which has largely been due to depletion of conventional reserves present onshore overtime. In the U.S., the industry has particularly seen a gradual shift to development of unconventional shale plays, including the Eagle Ford or Bakken formations, and deepwater assets which are flanked by salt deposits. In the latter operating circumstances, which will be focused on in this paper, the window in which safe drilling can be maintained is significantly reduced. This is due to both the reduced fracture gradient in shallower deepwater formations as relatively higher