Offshore Drilling

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Offshore Drilling

• By Thomas Schmidt, Edwin Fiscal, Tiffany Spencer
  and Puja Gohil

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The controversy is...

• ...whether or not we should continue offshore
  drilling

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History

• The Industrial Revolution
• First oil company was founded in Titusville,
  Pennsylvania in 1859.
• What contributed to the rise of oil?
• New modes of transportation
• Scientific advances
• Standard Oil
• http//www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/history/1850.ht
  ml

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History

• The first offshore drilling platform was created
  in 1896
• By Henry L. Williams
• It was a success!
• http//aoghs.org/offshore-history/offshore-oil-his
  tory/

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History

• During the early 20th century, the United States
  led in the production of oil in the world.
• World War 1
• World War 2
• The U.S. seeking foreign oil.

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History

• Santa Barbara Oil Spill
• Covered over 800 square miles
• Led to the Creation of
• Earth Day
• National Environmental Policy Act
• Clean Water Act
• http//www.counterspill.org/disaster/santa-barbara
  -oil-spill

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History

• 1970s - the United States replied more and more
  on foreign oil.
• OPEC oil embargos

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History

• Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
• 10.8 million barrels of oil spilled off the shore
  of Alaska.
• Still being clean today.
• http//www.counterspill.org/disaster/

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History

• BP Oil Spill
• 40 Billion barrels of oil spilled.
• 3 trillion of oil lost.
• Destroyed the economy of states on the Gulf of
  Mexico.
• http//www.counterspill.org/disaster/

10

• learnaboutdolphins.wordpress.com

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Political Institutions that Regulate Offshore
Drilling

• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
• The Bureau of Safety and Environmental
  Enforcement

12

• 
  U.S. Energy information
  Administration

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What is offshore drilling?
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Something to look at

• Offshore Oil and Gas Resources
• Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production
  accounts for 23 percent of total U.S. crude oil
  production and federal offshore natural gas
  production in the Gulf accounts for 7 percent of
  total U.S. dry production, according to the
  Energy Information Administration.
• Over 40 percent of total U.S. petroleum refining
  capacity is located along the Gulf coast, as well
  as 30 percent of total U.S. natural gas
  processing plant capacity.
• To meet increasing U.S. demand while addressing
  environmental concerns, new technologies have
  resulted in drilling rigs capable of drilling 250
  miles offshore to ocean depths exceeding 10,000
  feet. At stake are an additional 19 billion
  barrels of oil and another 86 trillion cubic feet
  of gas. Fear of oil spills and heated
  environmental debates restrict access to many
  potential areas.
• More than 5,000 offshore oil and natural gas
  platforms operate in the Gulf of Mexico around
  the clock, seven-days a week. It is the largest
  artificial reef system in the world.
• http//aoghs.org/offshore-history/offshore-oil-his
  tory/

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Something to Look At (Continued...)

• According to the National Academy of Sciences,
  more than 60 percent of all oil found in seawater
  is not from wells, but from natural seepage (the
  largest emitting 1,000 barrels of oil a week) 32
  percent comes from shipping and run-off from
  land. Four percent can be attributed to tanker
  spills.
• However, near Santa Barbara, Calif., offshore
  drillings worst environmental disaster occurred
  in 1969 when an undersea well blew out. The
  calamity quickly brought industry changes that
  have protected the offshore environment ever
  since.
• Between 1980 and 1999, about 7.4 billion barrels
  of oil were produced in federal waters, says the
  U.S. Coast Guard. Less than a thousandth of one
  percent spilled less than the natural seepage
  of oil from the sea floor.

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Science Behind OffShore Drilling

• 1)Offshore drilling processes and equipment are
  essentially the same as those on land
• 2)special types of rigs are used depending on
  water depth.
• 3)In depths up to 4,000 feet (1,220 meters),
  drilling takes place on semisubmersible rigs that
  float on air-filled legs
• 4)Drillships with very precise navigational
  instruments are used in deep water with depths to
  8,000 feet (2,440 meters).
• 5)Many advancements have been made in
  oil-drilling technology. The most advanced rotary
  cone rock bits presently available can drill
  about 80 percent faster than bits from the 1920s.
  
• 6)Today's drills can reach down more than 30,000
  feet (9,150 meters).
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?featureplayer_embed
  dedvIG7L5lVoqy8

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Also.

• Modern offshore structures include (from left to
  right) 1 and 2 are conventional fixed platforms
  3 is a compliant tower 4 and 5 are vertically
  moored tension leg and mini-tension leg
  platforms 6 is a spar platform 7 and 8 are
  semi-submersibles 9 is a floating production and
  offloading facility 10) sub-sea completion and
  tie-back to host facility.

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Drill Baby Drill

• ?Creates jobs
• Domestic fuel
• Environmentally friendly
• ?Profitable

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Jobs

• Offshore oil rigs provide many types of jobs
• Primary
• Secondary
• Refiners

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Domestic fuel

• Offshore drilling helps the United States harvest
  rich deposits of oil that are located on domestic
  soil.
• This reduces dependency on foreign oil and
  brings the cost of oil down for the average
  American.
• Very expensive to drill offshore
• Expensive transportation fees are avoided as oil
  harvested and refined domestically costs much
  less to transport.

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Environmentally Friendly

• Offshore rigs are massive structures in the ocean
  that attract a wide variety of marine life.
• Fish, birds and other sea creatures come to the
  rig and make it their home.
• The rig acts as an artificial reef that helps
  life flourish as many animals use it for
  breeding.
• About 27 of our crude oil comes from offshore
  waters in present day.
• http//www.ehow.com/list_6693280_benefits-offshore
  -drilling_.html

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Profitable

• By 2035, offshore oil development could produce
  an incremental 1.3 million barrels of oil
  equivalent per day, generating nearly 280,000
  jobs.
• This would contribute up to 23.5 billion per
  year to the U.S. economy, and generate 51
  billion in cumulative government revenue.
• Most of the benefits would be accrued to states
  along the east coast but the economic impacts
  would be felt throughout the U.S.
• The amount of revenue accrued to state
  governments would be dependent on legislated
  federal/state sharing agreements.

http//www.themixoilandwater.com/2011/01/deepwater
-discovery-today-for-tomorrow.html
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California supports offshore drilling

• Proposed to drill 50 miles off the shore
• Not drilling would be more dangerous than
  drilling
• Undersea pressure causes oil to seep through
  cracks in the sea floor.
• One six-mile stretch off the coast of Santa
  Barbara releases 240 barrels of oil a day,
  equivalent to 87,000 barrels a year.
• Drilling will reduce the undersea pressure
  thereby reducing the amount of seepage into the
  ocean.

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Drawbacks (Offshore)

• Habitat destruction
• Creates pollution
• Regulations

http//alternativeenergy.procon.org/view.answers.p
hp?questionID001255
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Drawback Examples

• In the BP oil spill, more than 200 million
  gallons of crude oil was pumped into the gulf of
  Mexico for a total of 87 days, making it the
  biggest oil spill in U.S. history. 16,000 total
  miles of coastline have been affected including
  the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
  Alabama, and Florida. Oil is still washing up on
  shores.
• The Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in 10.8
  million gallons. This oil spill killed over
  250,000 animals. This oil spill is still
  considered one of the worlds worst oil spills in
  history taking it spot in the top 50. The
  economic losses were totaled up to 31 million.
• The Santa Barbara oil spill ended up spilling
  over 3 million gallons of crude oil. Hundreds of
  miles of oceans were covered with thick crude oil
  along with over 35 miles of coastline. This oil
  spill led to laws and regulations dealing with
  preserving the environment.

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How does it affect us?

• Oil spills destroy ecosystems and kill wildlife,
  but peoples health is directly affected too.
• Oil is semi-volatile, which means that it can
  evaporate into the air and create a heavy vapor
  that stay near the ground - in the human
  breathing zone. When winds whip up oily sea
  water, the spray contains tiny droplets -
  basically a fume - of oil, which are small enough
  to be inhaled deep into the lungs.
• Oil contains petroleum hydrocarbons, which are
  toxic and irritating to the skin and airways, It
  also contains volatile chemicals called VOCs,
  which can cause acute health effects such as
  headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Over the long
  term, many of these chemicals have been linked to
  cancer, so there are lots of reasons to worry
  about inhaling them.

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What did we learn?
The bottom line is that when you drill for oil,
there is always a risk that not only puts lives
in the line, but a risk that puts miles of
coastline and the economy on the line as well.
There is no complete safe way to drill for oil
offshore. America has only 1.6 of the worlds
oil supply, but we use 24 - so drilling is not
much of a solution.
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Bibliography

• www.captainsvoyage-forum.com
• www.behance.net
• http//www.epa.gov/bpspill/
• http//www.themixoilandwater.com/2011/01/deepwater
  -discovery-today-for-tomorrow.html
• http//www.ehow.com/list_6693280_benefits-offshore
  -drilling_.html
• http//www.scienceclarified.com/Mu-Oi/Oil-Drilling
  .htmlixzz3KnGWhRqW
• 
  
  
  

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• http//www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/history/1850.ht
  ml
• http//www.history.com/topics/oil-industry
• http//aoghs.org/offshore-history/offshore-oil-his
  tory/
• http//www.counterspill.org/disaster/santa-barbara
  -oil-spill