Offshore Oil Drilling

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The existence of crude oil has been known for centuries, and throughout time the growing demand for the resource has driven the exploration, and production to its highest expansion. The Earths' natural reserve of crude oil is finite; it is not a renewable resource. Corn and Copeland stated that based on survey studies one-half of the remaining undiscovered crude oil and natural gas lie under the oceans and seas. According to the book "Public Reaction to Offshore Oil", the demand for crude oil is still increasing and there is no doubt, the resource is depleting and in the future, the world's production will be forced to start declining. Even though water bodies are extremely sensitive ecosystem, as demand for petroleum keeps rising and technological innovations developed offshore drilling introduced to satisfy the rising demand (Corn, and Copeland). There is no doubt oil-drilling, in general, and offshore drilling, in particular, is playing a great role in reaching the ongoing demand for the resource, which immensely benefit our energy and industrial craving. However, this resource exploitation is also costing in ecosystem degradation, environmental pollution, and social health imbalance. Does the existing trend of exponential expansion of offshore oil-drilling exploration and production following the path towards sustainable economic and environmental development?
Based on the article "Offshore Drilling", the term offshore drilling refers to both exploration and final producing of wells accessing underwater resource reservoirs of oil and gas deposits. The first offshore drilling was done on the Pacific Ocean off the shores of Summerland, California, Southeast of Santa Barbara, in 1898. The technological breakthrough that faci...

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...evelopment can only happen if the society is well informed about economic and environmental activities.

Works Cited

Corn, M. Lynne and Copeland, Claudia“The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Coastal Wetland and Wildlife Impacts and Response.”Congressional Research Service (July 7, 2010).

Mabro, Robert; Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Oil in the 21st century: issues, challenges and opportunities. Oxford Press.(2006).

“Offshore Drilling." Green Energy: An A-to-Z Guide. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications,2010. Credo Reference. Web. 11 November 2013.

"Offshore Oil Drilling (Gulf Oil Spill)." Green Technology: An A-to-Z Guide. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2011. Credo Reference. Web. 11 November 2013
"Public Reaction to Offshore Oil." Encyclopedia of Energy. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology, 2004. Credo Reference. Web. 11 November 2013..

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