The Pros And Cons Of Offshore Drilling

This is even more important because so many Americans lost their jobs as oil and gas production, "with the number of employees in oil and gas with the number of employees in oil and gas extraction shrinking by over 50 percent to 118,400 in 2003" (Hassett and Mathur). Americans were losing jobs in gas production starting from the early twenty-first century due to the fact that "easily tapped oil reserves grew scarcer and domestic oil production declined", until improvements in fracking for shale gas created more jobs(Hassett and Mathur). The jobs fracking creates is much needed to boost the sagging American economy, but even more important to the economy is the gas produced.

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).

Another reason against drilling much research has shown that all the oil that will be produced will only last for about six months. The fact that the British Petroleum has greater potential to produce more oil and natural gasses (Markey 2004) than ANWR so why bother with it , supporting the case that drilling is pointless. Then there is the percentage that after oil production of ANWR, the foreign oil dependency will only drop from 56% to 50% (Markey 2004).Then the oil produced would reach the market ten years later after it was produced, leaving the gas price decrease to one percent(Lamar and Markey 12). There was also the reality of natural gases. ANWR does not confirm any sign of them, when President Bush ordered exploration for natural gasses (Klyza and Ford-Martin 1).Again proving drilling pointless.

Of course the cost of the drilling should already be making you agree with me, but just in case here is some real information. “A study from the US Energy Agency (March 2004) shows it would reduce US imports by 4%...” states the Arctic Wildlife Organization (Document C). Nevertheless, this means that we would only be gaining by four percent.

America has been in an oil crisis for many years, it should stop. People and companies are using more oil than they should. Oil supplies are fragile. If the United States drills for oil in several other countries it would cost a lot of money and gas prices will increase. There is an option of drilling in Alaska for oil. If the United States did drill it would be cheaper because it is domestic. If the United States collected oil from Alaska's wildlife it would have an overall positive outcome.

needs to continue to produce oil by fracking because if not then another country will have more power over them because they control the United States oil supply. This would make it to where the United States had to import more oil and probably still have to purify it so that it is of the top quality to go into the United States market. This would raise the price of oil all over the country making gas prices go up and eventually affecting the whole economy. Then the United States would have no oil and the economy would be suffering from a lack of jobs from a quarter of the oilfield being shut down as well as higher gas prices which slows travel down. With higher gas prices people do not travel as much and hotels, airlines, and many other industries will be suffering from it. The United States already imports oil from unstable countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Syria and Iraq. By importing from these countries the U.S. is helping support the regimes in those countries. If the U.S. cuts out 25% of their current at home oil source they would be opening a door to support countries not on their side as well as hurting their own

Chevron and other major oil companies may initially disagree with this step and state that the economic gains are too substantial to just drop fracking. What those big companies need to understand is that just because fracking is good for the economy now,

One thing fracking does for people is supply them with jobs. Most of the United States is employed in the oil field. Back in 2012, the oil and gas industry supplied the United States with more than 1.2 million jobs. Without these jobs, the United states unemployment rate would be especially high.

America has been dependant on oil since the 1800’s and the invention of modern machinery. From skin care products to the gasoline in our cars and engines, petroleum is the basis of almost everything we use for everyday life. Without oil the nation could not meet the energy demands we need to survive. Continued exploration has been the topic of heated debate among supporters and opponents, especially when it comes to offshore drilling. My goal here is to show the differing view points of drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and present a better understanding from a national perspective. Drilling for our own offshore oil reserves can save the United States billions of dollars.

At a time where jobs are hard to find, fracking has been a saving grace for many. In 2012 alone the fracking industry supported 2.1 million jobs. (Economy) There is also a lot of potential for growth, according to Purdue University economist, Wallace Tyner. In the article “The Liberal War On American Energy Independence”, author Arthur Herman conveys that Tyner suggested that between 2008 and 2035 that fracking will add around $473 billion dollars each year to U.S. economy. (Herman) Fracking has already had an impact on foreign oil dependency, and it is definitely for the better. The New York Times reported “In 2011, the country imported just 45% of the liquid fuels it used, down from a record high of 60 percent in 2005.”(Krauss) This is a crowning achievement for many of the big supporters of fracking. Production could eventually reach to 10 million barrels a day, making us a real competitor of Saudi Arabia. (Krauss)

With having 400,000 natural gas wells across the United States this creates thousands of jobs for people. In 1980 fracking companies supported 267,000 employees according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Hassett, Kevin A.) In 2011 alone the United States produced 850,983 cubic feet of natural gas from shale gas wells (The Numbers.) Per thousand cubic feet of natural gas costs about 4.24 dollars, this comes out to a profit around 36 billion dollars (Hassett, Kevin A.) Not only does it have large profits but it has a huge direct effect on trade balance with the US and other countries. Between 2007 and 2011 natural gas imports decreased by 25 percent, with this four year decrease Energy Information Administration predicts that the USA will become a net exporter of natural gas by 2020 (Hassett, Kevin A.) Though “The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work,” says a spokesperson from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company (The Numbers.) Shocking news that the economics just do not work with the gas companies many are finding out that it’s not as cheap to extract from the shale as the they intended it to be (Hunt, Spencer.) According to hundreds of industry emails and internal documents, and an

We can do many things to stop illegal oil drilling in the future, like using public transportation, walking rather than driving, and not wasting electricity. First, to stop illegal oil drilling, people could use public transportation more, rather than their own personal cars. Instead, they could take the bus to work or school. Or, people could get on a train or subway to get to their destination. You could also take a taxi to reach school or work. The reason using public transportation will help stop illegal oil drilling is because if people used public transportation, there is less gasoline being used because fewer vehicles are being used. If less gasoline is being used, less oil is being used, so there is no need to illegally drill oil. Second,

To start with, it is evident that oil is an essential for the United States which is used as gasoline, heating oil, etc. However, after an explosion damaged the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP there has been much debate about banning deepwater oil drilling. Bearing in mind that the need for oil is inevitable one must consider the economic costs of banning deepwater oil drilling. First of all, banning oil drilling which may be a leading energy source will affect the economy for years. One must consider that banning oil drilling will result in a great deal of job loss to people already in the industry. According to Dr. Joseph R. Mason, chair of banking at the Ourso School of Business at Louisiana State University, “In the Gulf economies,

In addition to being an environmentally friendly method of natural gas extraction, fracking also created new jobs and generates substantial revenue that is crucial to the growth of the United States’ economy. Today Americans are suffering from an unemployment rate which has risen to an astounding 9.1% rate. The Marcellus Company created over 29,000 jobs in 2008; and the Barnette Company created over 327,000 jobs in Texas alone (Kaufman and Sidick). The natural gas harvested from fracking are also translates into extreme profits. Barnette Shale’s drilling companies generated over $32.56 billion in revenue and the Marcellus Shale’s drilling companies already generated $2.3 billion in revenue from the small fraction of the shale they have drilled so far (Kaufman and Sidick). Hydraulic fracturing provides economic benefits that are necessary for America’s struggling economy in an environmentally friendly way.

Around the world, countries are dependent on oil and more often than not, foreign oil. The U.S. is at a time where they believe buying foreign oil supports terrorism and hurts our economy. Shale formations deep underground that spread all over the U.S. have been found to contain natural gas. This includes the Marcellus Shale formation and the Utica Shale formation, which can be found all throughout New York State and down the East Coast (Hydro-Fracking pg.1). To get at this abundance of gas underground, hydraulic fracturing was invented, but this new method of gas extraction safe for the environment and for the people around it?