Download Johansen Jeff Johansen English 2010 31 Jan. 2012 Oceans: A New

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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.