DEEP SEA DRILL IN GULF

Why America Must Continue To Deep Sea Drill in Gulf

Why America Must Continue To Deep Sea Drill in Gulf

Introduction

American activity in the deep sea is extending ever deeper, with recent research on oil exploration showing that our environment is more sensitive to human and natural impacts than previously thought. Some deep-water oil stocks have collapsed and drilling methods such as Hollow Stem Auger have raised international concern over the environmental damage they cause. It is likely that in its current form, deep-sea drilling is unsustainable. Diminishing reserves of oil in shallow water are pushing exploration and production into deeper waters, which may cause damage to little known deep-sea treasures. The deep sea drill in Gulf is also a hot issue in American politics and media. According to some, America must continue to deep sea drill in Gulf. But, there are other people

Concurrently, American activity, most notably oil exploration, has continually expanded from coastal waters with great increases in the amount of activity and depths of operations since the 1990s. Drilling activities are increasingly affecting the deep ocean, to the extent that quantifiable changes in oil stocks.

Oil

Oil extraction has been undertaken for many years in shelf seas but in recent years production has started to diminish (Kemp and Stephen, 2005, 43-66). With continually increasing consumer demand and extraction costs some international hydrocarbon companies are now under significant pressure to discover new reserves (Hallock et al., 2004). A promising source of new reserves may be in deeper waters. Exploitation of deep-sea hydrocarbons began in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979, with six producing wells by 1992. This number rose to 17 by 1997 and increased exponentially to 118 by March 2006 mostly between 500 and 1500 m water depths. The Gulf of Mexico now contains the deepest well to date, the Toledo well drilled at 3051 m water depth in late 2003. There is further potential for large reserves to be exploited in deep-sea areas off the coasts of South Africa, West Africa, Brazil and the Indo-Pacific region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and India (Zhu, 2004). In many parts of the world, such as the North Atlantic, offshore activities are strongly regulated to reduce pollution and the amount of waste deposited on the seabed (Hartley, 2005). For example, in the USA, regulation has led to noticeable reductions in the levels of discharges recorded, including carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, chemical discharges and contaminated drill cuttings.

The ocean currents in the deep-waters surrounding deep-sea exploration and production facilities would likely disperse the contaminants released. This would dilute the impact on deep-sea species and some species thought to be highly sensitive to drilling discharges may in fact show some resilience. For example, the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa has been found growing on oil rigs in the North Sea ([Bell and Smith, 1999). The majority of colonies discovered on these rigs are in good condition. However, those observed growing close to discharge chutes have shown signs of contamination with some colonies suffering upwards ...