The Reasons to Drill Off Shore for Oil Production - Literature review Example

Environmental studies: Reasons to drill off shore Jaime Thurber  Van Derwalker  English 102  June 29, Reasons to drill off shore 1973 -1975 oil price hike has shocked the world economy. The growth rate fell to 2.1% in 1974 and to 1.45 in 1975. The worldwide trade growth rate also dropped heavily from 12% in 1973 to -5.4% in 1974 and -7.3 in 1975. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has dropped from 40% in 1973 to half of it in 1974 (Oil prices and global economy, 2006, p.4) Oil prices and global economy have direct relationships. In other words, global economy is inversely proportional to oil prices. When oil price increases, global economy declines and when the oil price decreases global economy achieves growth. American economy also follows the same path as the global economy does. A world without oil fuel is unimaginable at present. Even though we have many other energy sources, none of them are capable of replacing oil. Even though nobody has any doubt about the utility or essentiality of oil in sustaining human life in its present form, some people argues against offshore drilling citing environmental reasons. At the time of crude oil purification and also at the time of operating vehicles, oil liberates so many greenhouse gases like oxides of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, methane etc. Daniel et al (2006) have mentioned that “between 1976 and 1990, oil companies in Nigeria witnessed a total of 2,796 oil spills. An estimated total quantity of 2,105,393 barrels of oil was spilled on land, coastal and offshore marine environments” (Daniel et al, 2006, p.111). Amidst all such criticisms labeled against offshore drilling, it is a fact that the no other energy sources are capable of substituting oil. In other words, offshore drilling should be continued in its present form until we would be able to find out alternate energy sources to replace oil. “The United States consumes nearly one-fourth of the worlds oil. The big discoveries are happening offshore, says Robert Bryce, managing editor of Energy Tribune” (Jervis et al, 2008). The above statistics and opinion clearly point towards the necessities of offshore drilling. It is difficult for United States to replace oil with another energy source at present because of the huge dependence of America on oil fuels. America is producing only 10% of its total oil needs, which means around 90% of oil required for its domestic usage, is being imported from overseas countries. It is difficult for America like big country to rely heavily on other countries for energy needs. “Unfortunately, because of dumb luck, most of the world’s petroleum is controlled by nations that are unfriendly to the United States. Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran were three of the top five producers of petroleum in 2007” (Column: Offshore Drilling Not Hoax, But Necessity To United States, 2009). Arab countries, Russia and China are the major oil producers in the world and America’s relations with these countries are not so good. Under such circumstances, if these countries decide to stop oil supply to America, energy crisis may intensify in America. Under such circumstances, it is necessary for America to increase offshore drilling to find out more oil sources. As Robert Bryce says, the possibility of big discoveries cannot be ruled out in offshore drilling. It should be noted that the entire faces of gulf countries have been changed immensely as result of the discovery of oil sources in those countries. The living standards of the people in gulf countries improved a lot as a result of the oil discovery. Such dramatic things can happen in America also and therefore oil drilling or offshore drilling should be continued even though criticisms are there. The following statistics from Louisiana reveals the importance of offshore drilling further. Louisiana has had offshore drilling since 1947. About 172 active rigs dot the Gulf of Mexico waters off the coast, producing about 79% of the oil and 72% of the natural gas that comes from drilling off the nations coastlines. The state gets about $1.5 billion annually in oil and gas revenue, a figure that will grow when it starts receiving part of oil companies royalty payments in 2017 under federal law (Jervis et al, 2008). The above statistics clearly underline the necessity of offshore drilling. However, environmentalists argue against offshore drilling citing environmental problems. They argue that offshore drilling may pollute sea water. In their opinion, oil spills may cause tremendous damages to marine life. The following statistics can silence their arguments. A report by the National Research Council found that offshore oil and gas drilling was responsible for just 2% of the petroleum in North Americas oceans, compared with 63% from natural seepage and 22% from municipal and industrial waste. Coast Guard reports show that the amount of oil spilled in U.S. waters dropped from 3.6 million barrels in the 1970s to less than 500,000 in the 1990s (Jervis et al, 2008). Considering the importance of oil in developing a country, minor problems with respect to offshore drilling should neglected. Oil is the blood of global economy at present. Without this blood, global economy or American economy cannot survive long. Most of the industries and transportation equipment require oil energy and in the absence of it, all these vital sectors may face death. At the same time oil resources are exhausting day by day because of over consumption and less availability. Since oil is a nonrenewable energy source, overconsumption exhausts the oil stocks. Offshore drilling is the only way to find out new oil sources and it should be continued as much as possible. “Up to a fifth of the world’s undiscovered, recoverable oil resources — around 90 billion barrels — are estimated to lie within the Arctic Circle, an offshore area that has competing claims from the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland and Norway”(The facts on offshore drilling and production importance, 2010). These oil stocks will remain unused if offshore drilling is halted. It is difficult for the world to stop offshore drilling, especially when the energy requirements are increasing day by day. Even though oil sources were discovered in many areas, some of them are unusable because of the huge expenses needed for drilling it out. In other words, there are many unusable oil sources in this world. It is necessary for us to exploit the usable oil sources, especially when we consider the importance of oil in stimulating economic growth. “Because most of the “light” crude oil that has been discovered in the United States has already been drilled and refined, other options must be explored for domestic production” (Offshore Drilling: How big of a role will it play?, 2010). Offshore drilling seems to be the right option for United States to find out answers to its energy problems. Even though, America has superior nuclear energy exploitation technologies, many people have concerns about the safety of using nuclear reactors, especially after the recent tsunami attacks on Japan’s nuclear power stations. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents are other incidents which force America to think twice before establishing more nuclear power stations. Under such circumstances, offshore drilling seems to be the safest options available for America at present. “A global race for energy resources is on — and China is way out front. China’s state-owned oil companies are now maneuvering to control a substantial amount of oil and natural gas in Africa, Asia and South America”(Dimicco, 2010). America and China are currently engaged in a silent war for domination. The recent recession affected America drastically whereas China escaped from it. Many people believe that China may expel America from the super power spot in the near future itself. China is not only a major oil producer, but also they control a substantial portion of the oil resources in other parts of the world. Moreover, China has superior technologies for exploiting solar energy. In short, China may not face much energy problems in future whereas same thing cannot be said about America. Therefore the necessity of offshore drilling is significant for Americans than the Chinese. At its peak in production, which occurred in 1970s, the U.S. produced about 10 million [barrels of oil] a day. Now, after 30 years of fairly steady decline, America produces about five million barrels a day whereas it consumes 20 million barrels daily. "Whoever talks about oil independence has to tell a story about how America close a 15-million-barrel gap (Gertz, 2008, p.3) Oil exporting countries will never show any mercy while deciding oil prices. Since most of the oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran have less other resources, they always try to sell oil for maximum possible prices. Oil importing countries like America can never expect oil price reduction in future from the oil exporting companies because of the increasing demand for oil and shortage of oil supply. Conclusions America should never stop offshore drilling because of its increasing oil consumption and heavy reliance on overseas countries for oil imports. Compared to other industries, environmental problems generated by offshore drilling are negligible. Since global economy runs on oil fuel at present, the importance of offshore drilling cannot be neglected. References 1. Column: Offshore Drilling Not Hoax, But Necessity To United States (2009). Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/27/politics/uwire/main4482333.shtml 2. Daniel, Kalio, L A & Pepple (2006). Effect of Bonny Light Crude Oil Pollution of Soil on the Growth of dayflower (Commelina benghalensis L.) in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Mgt. June 2006, Vol. 10 (2) 111 – 114 3. Dimicco D (2010). No need to end offshore drilling. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39977.html 4. Gertz, E. (2008). Can Offshore Drilling Really Make the U.S. Oil Independent?. Scientific American. September 12, 2008. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-offshore-drilling-make-us-independent&page=3 5. Jervis R, Welch W.M & Wolf R. (2008). Worth the risk? Debate on offshore drilling heats up. USA Today (13 July 2008). Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-07-13-offshore-drilling_N.htm 6. Oil prices and global economy (2006). Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/4230029/Oil-Prices-Global-Economy 7. Offshore Drilling: How big of a role will it play? (2010). Retrieved from http://webberenergyblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/offshore-drilling-how-big-of-a-role-will-it-play/ 8. The facts on offshore drilling and production importance, (2010). Retrieved from http://www.offshoreenergytoday.com/the-facts-on-offshore-drilling-and-production-importance/ Read More