/>
©Digital Vision/Thinkstock
READ MORE ABOUT:
Welcome to Planet 100 for Monday, June 14, 2010. Today, we're diving deep into offshore oil drilling.
WATCH VIDEO: Offshore Oil Drilling Explained
What?
As easily recoverable oil reserves diminish, exploration is increasingly turning to deepwater wells a mile or more beneath the ocean's surface drilled through as much as 18,000 feet of rock. There are 10 different types of oil rigs designed to extract oil from 200 hundred feet to 200 miles off our coastlines.
Where?
Today some 4,000 platforms operate in the U.S. federal waters and thousands more operate off the coast of Africa, Asia, and South America. US offshore oil produces 1.5 million barrels per day or 30% of total US oil production; contrast that with current U.S. oil consumption of 21 million barrels per day it amounts to about 7% of total demand in the US.
Who?
Over 220 different companies own offshore rigs, making billions in annual profits. But the biggest drivers of global demand are U.S. cars and trucks which gobble more than half (54%) the world’s annual supply.
When?
istory buffs can trace the very first offshore well back 1887 off a wooden wharf off Summerland, California. Since then technology has made it possible to drill in deeper water and farther from shore. Just three weeks before the BP oil disaster, President Obama ended the moratorium on offshore drilling throwing opening a huge swath of protected coastline in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the eastern seaboard -- a decision that may now be reversed.
Why?
Why should we care about offshore drilling? It all comes down to costs vs benefits. If there was enough oil offshore to replace foreign oil consumption some could argue it’s worth the risk. But even with proven offshore reserves we wouldn’t come close to offsetting foreign oil imports. And the DeepWater Horizon catastrophe has proved that the risks are very high. The cleanup of devastated ecosystems and lost income by Gulf residents is estimated in the tens of billions.
How?
So how do we move forward? If offshore drilling is to continue we need to, at the very least, ensure proper regulation of the industry. That means no more meth on the job, permit exclusions, or missing automatic shutoff valves. But isn’t the Gulf oil spill a wake up call to push for clean alternatives? For the first time we have the technology to produce ultra efficient gas engines, trucks that run on clean natural gas, and fossil-free electric cars.
More on offshore oil drilling
Offshore Drilling: Is Energy Worth the Ecological Disaster of Oil Spills?
WTF: Obama Expands Offshore Drilling Far Beyond Bush
Arnold Terminates Offshore Drilling (Video News)
