Oil Drilling In Arctic Risks The Offshore And The Animals



Oil Drilling In Arctic Risks The Offshore And The Animals

Prospectus: Oil Drilling In Arctic Risks The Offshore And The Animals

The United States Geological Survey estimates that 90 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil lies in offshore reservoirs in the Arctic. That's about a third of the size of Saudi Arabia's reserves. Oil companies are expanding their search for oil to new frontiers previously considered too inaccessible, expensive or risky to exploit. This relentless expansion has now reached the Arctic, where large areas of the ocean are opening up each summer as climate change causes sea ice to melt. Some scientists have warned Arctic sea ice could disappear altogether this decade. The dangers of drilling for oil in the Arctic are immense. Oil spilt into near freezing water takes many times longer to dissipate than in warmer oceans. The freezing temperatures, severe weather and remote location pose unprecedented challenges to any spill response. Oil pollution in Arctic seas could poison some of the most important and productive marine ecosystems in the world. The industry cannot ensure that a spill would never happen and their response plans remain wholly inadequate. According to the United States Geological Survey, about 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 13% of the world's undiscovered oil may be found in the area north of the Arctic Circle. Drilling licences and exploration activities have increased rapidly over recent years. It is estimated that approximately 84% of the undiscovered oil and gas in the Arctic occurs offshore, with about 90bn barrels of technically recoverable oil.xviii Working on the rough assumption that a barrel of crude oil produces 300kg of CO2 after refining and combustion, the Arctic's recoverable offshore reserves could be responsible for 27bn tonnes of CO2. This amount is comparable with the world's total annual emissions.

Annotated Bibliography

Associated Press (2010). “Huge ice island could pose threat to oil, shipping” 10 August 2010

The Arctic ecosystem is perhaps the most vulnerable on earth to oil spills. Cold weather, thick ice cover and slow turnover of plants and animals mean that toxic oil lingers, exposing multiple generations of organisms to contamination. Lack of sunlight will also inhibit the breakdown of spilled oil. Much of the world runs on oil, most from land, but some from ocean drilling. To support our modern lifestyle, from cars to plastics, the world has used more than one trillion barrels of oil to date. Another trillion is underground, waiting to be tapped. But given the locations of the remaining oil, the cost is likely to be far higher. Canada's tar sands are becoming a serious issue, and with the Arctic ice melting, oil companies are racing to drill there with serious environmental issues involved. The area is rich in seabirds, such as the Brünnich's guillemot, cormorants, kittiwakes and king eiders. Seabirds are especially vulnerable to oil spills as the oil can destroy the insulating capacity of their plumage. Furthermore, spilled oil will keep its sticky and ...