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Johansen 1 Jeff Johansen English 2010 31 Jan. 2012 Oceans: A New Beginning, or the Final Frontier? Introduction Drilling for oil and natural gas has been controversial for decades. This controversy is due, in part, to the power and strength of the oil companies and also to the necessity of these two resources. Oil companies have grown so large and powerful that there is little or nothing even the government can do to stop or slow expansion of this industry. Regulations are in place, however they tend to encourage more drilling. The large oil companies are merely seeing dollar signs in their actions and decisions. It is also a huge blow to environmentalists that the world depends so heavily on oil and natural gas. Despite the possible environmental problems that could arise, our dependence on oil and natural gas is not going to change until greater investments are made into renewable energy. Most Americans are tired of paying a high price at the pumps and elsewhere, but for the time being, drilling must continue to expand into new areas where resources are plentiful. Johansen 2 Economic Benefits With the drilling of new oil and Economic Downfalls Although the benefits of recovering natural gas wells, new jobs will be created in new oil are good, the disadvantages order to run the new rigs. “Fewer than 2,000 definitely cast a large shadow. Drilling for oil and gas wells have been drilled in the oil and natural gas has changed considerably past couple of years in South Texas. The in the last few decades. A new type of industry expects that number to climb to as drilling called “hydraulic fracture-drilling, many as 25,000 over the next couple of or fracking…” (Fox) has been designed decades” (Gold, Oil’s Growing Thirst for primarily for recovering natural gas. Water). These new jobs would bring much “Fracking involves drilling deep into large needed financial relief for Americans in this swaths of dense rock where oil and gas are part of our nation, and ultimately to all trapped. To crack the rocks and allow the oil citizens. Along with new jobs, producing or gas to flow out, energy companies inject more oil in the U.S. would cut the cost of oil millions of gallons of water, mixed with as U.S. need for foreign oil would decrease. sand and chemicals, at high pressure” (Gold, “Oil imports are falling, prompting talk of Oil’s Growing Thirst for Water). Fracking slashing U.S. dependence on foreign energy requires the use of an enormous amount of sources” (Gold). Lowering the need for water. The large quantities of water required foreign energy would also help stimulate our for this process are bought as water rights, own economy by lowering the cost of and in a way, essentially stolen from farmers acquiring the oil. With new domestic oil and ranchers who are not able to pay large fields, fuel prices might actually decline. sums of money to keep these water rights from being sold to the energy companies. Johansen 3 Environmental Effects A major point of the seem to be contaminating potable water supplies. environmentalist’s argument is the potential for major oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon spill back in 2010. This huge oil spill has seriously affected restaurants nationwide, and sadly, has put businesses out of business and workers out of work. Men who fish for oysters have nowhere to fish for them and restaurants that served them in the past have either stopped or have to order them from other places. “Louisiana’s 1.6 million acres of public In Colorado, Amee Ellsworth says, oyster beds, and more than half of its “She could light her tap water on fire right 400,000 privately leased acres, are off- out of the kitchen sink. The cause…was limits” (Huffstutter). Oysters are a huge part hydraulic fracture-drilling…” (Fox). It is of Louisiana’s economy, which has now hard to argue against this evidence. What been all but destroyed. “Environmentalists else could cause drinking water to be able to also worry about the huge volumes of water catch fire so easily, or even at all? Most of and chemicals pumped deep underground at us are under the assumption that water high pressures to break loose the shale” typically puts fire out. It is hard to ignore (Webber). The chemicals added to the water this aversion to an obvious truth. It seems pretty evident that something is Johansen 4 contaminating the aquifers. The guilt most Animal Encounters likely belongs to the energy companies who have numerous gas wells in this area of Colorado. Another possible consequence of drilling is an increase in earthquakes, especially in states that are not used to having them. One such state is Oklahoma. “Oklahoma had an average of two to six earthquakes a year until 2009, when suddenly there were 50” (Hennessey-Fiske). Big oil companies have been battling the government over certain species in areas of drilling. Some species are being considered for the endangered species list, or have A worker at the Earthquake Science Center already been put on it. One such creature is in California states, “From what we have the dunes sagebrush lizard. The lizard has seen, fracking has not been related to any caused a lot of problems in Texas and New earthquake of significant magnitude. Where Mexico because it is a “habitat specialist” we have seen larger earthquakes, they have that “can’t exist anywhere else” (Campoy). been related to deeper well injection” The oil companies are fighting to keep this (Hennessey-Fiske). So, however unlikely it particular lizard off the endangered species may be, it is possible to cause earthquakes list because the area it lives in is a huge by fracking. What a comforting thought it source of oil. The Governor of New Mexico, must be for those who live near these wells, in an effort to avoid the lizard being placed knowing that their water could catch fire or on the list, went so far as to say, “the future that an earthquake could destroy their home. of our state’s economy and livelihood Johansen 5 of so many employers and hardworking surface, making it more expensive to extract New Mexicans are at stake” (Campoy). It is the remaining barrels. In the U.S., hard to believe that could be even remotely abandoned oil fields may still contain a true after considering the fact that the staggering 400 billion barrels of residual oil; “lizards occupy 600,000 acres of the total 11 worldwide, the figure is probably in the million acres in the four New Mexico trillions” (Roberts). That is a lot of oil left in counties that would be affected” (Campoy). those fields when considering that the daily Wow, compared to 11 million, 600,000 is consumption is around 85 million barrels nothing. The claim of the Governor is each day. Despite the amount of residual oil, certainly unfounded. The oil companies companies find it cheaper to move on to could certainly deal with giving up that other wells. amount of land, especially when there are so many oil fields popping up all over the ocean. Ocean Drilling Considering that many oil companies are turning to deep water drilling, it might be safe to say that most oil fields found on This has led to an increase in deep-water land are pretty well exhausted, or are they? drilling, with more and more oil rigs being “Drillers typically end up extracting just a built on the ocean. The major obstacle to third of the oil in a given field, in part drilling in the ocean is the depths of the oil because when they drain reservoirs they also fields. The oil fields are “often in more than decrease the pressure that pushes oil to the a mile of water and require five-mile long Johansen 6 wells…” (Gold, Oil Drilling Rebounds in with such problems. Hopefully in the future, Gulf After Spill). Again, spills are always a better drilling practices will be developed to major concern, despite how profitable any decrease aquifer contamination and stop a given oil field may be. possible increase in seismic activity. In conclusion, drilling for oil and Perhaps a better solution to the natural gas is at the present time, the major dangerous deep-water drilling and flaming source of energy that the U.S., and the death water would be to pump the extra world, has. Oil and natural gas will remain money into completely draining the the best and most common forms of energy abandoned oil fields. That is a huge amount until major advancements are made in the of oil right there that could be retrieved and renewable energy sources market. used. It is true that oil companies would Unfortunately, oil consumption will argue that it is not worth the extra money, continue to rise until such advancements are but that is arguable. What is more costly in made. Deep-water drilling and fracking are the end- extracting existing oil, or having to not great options as far as oil and gas pay out millions of dollars in lawsuits for retrieval is concerned, but there are not flaming water incidents? many other options available. So, for the time being, we all simply deal with the consequences as best we can, or in some instances try to fight it. Flaming tap water seems pretty scary and completely unacceptable. The U.S. is not a third-world country, and should not be forced to deal Another solution, however long it may take, would be to begin pumping much more money into researching and developing renewable energy sources. What are the possibilities for renewable energy? We do not really know because there has not been a lot of extensive research done. Let’s Johansen 7 get going on some research and see some real results before we exhaust the oil and natural gas reserves. There is only a finite amount of oil and natural in the world. That alone should be motivation enough to figure out a better energy source.