Should We Continue to Drill Offshore?

Just the thought of offshore drilling strikes fear into most people as a reoccurrence of photographs of oil soaked birds and expired marine life flows through their minds. Drilling for oil on the coastline is very risky business, no doubt. Many would argue that offshore drilling is too hazardous and should be banned; I however would argue that the benefits of offshore drilling far outweigh the costs, therefore offshore drilling should continue and even be encouraged.

On April 20^th 2010, BP’s Macondo oil well erupted causing the death of 11 men and the spill of over 50 million barrels of oil into the gulf. This occurrence was a “final straw” to those against offshore drilling. When looked at with more depth we can see that offshore drilling really isn’t the issue here, rather the practices that take place on these rigs. It can be shown that if the correct precautions are taken when drilling, these rigs are very beneficial.

The eruption on April 20^th was not a random occurrence that happens with the roll of the dice in offshore drilling.  It turns out that the situation could have been avoided. John Broder, columnist for the New York Times interviewed professionals and discusses findings from investigations on the well. Border describes the situation as “an avoidable accident caused by a series of failures and blunders by the companies involved in drilling the well and the government regulators assigned to police them.” It becomes evident that the failure of the well was due to the ignorance and use of money saving shortcuts of the companies assigned to run the wells (Broder). Oils wells can be dangerous, yes, however if properly taken care of, fail to pose a serious danger. Therefore rather than banning offshore drilling we need to take proper steps to properly maintain these wells and have legislation on how work on them is done.

Offshore drilling is very important to the way our society runs. Offshore wells in Louisiana alone provide 25% of America’s domestic oil (Fontova). Wells of the such are responsible for the relatively low cost of fuel at the pump, limiting dependence on foreign nations, job opportunities and a more steady oil market. These accommodations that we Americans take for granted depend heavily on the use of offshore wells.

Some who are opposed to offshore drilling will commonly mention “oil spills” repeatedly in their arguments. Humberto Fontova, a columnist for the Townhall magazine comments on this by mentioning that it is the transportation of oil that poses the risks of oil spills, with the recent BP well being an exception. Never before has Louisiana’s coast been soiled from an oil well accident, even with the 3,200 current wells (Fontova). All previous spills such as the Valdez, Cadiz and Argo Merchant were all tanker spills. From this information it can be seen that drilling for oil really is not the culprit for oil related accidents.

The dangers to the environment are also a common argument against offshore drilling. Louisiana currently holds about 30% of America’s fisheries (Fontova). Recent studies show that oil platforms actually provide a great habitat for reeves to flourish with an abundance of marine life. These studies show a 50% increase in fish population around these platforms and that 85% of fishing trips involve fishing around the wells (Fontova). So it seems except for the very rare occurrence of an event such as BP’s failure, oil wells actually promote a healthy marine environment.

All in all offshore drilling does is dangerous and can pose a threat. However due to recent mishaps it has been given an unjustified bad rap. Offshore drilling is a positive thing and needs to be promoted due to the vast benefits. The benefits to society from these wells are dramatic and it can be seen that they actually have a way of helping the environment as well. We as citizens must critically weigh out the benefits and costs in this situation. I believe if looked at carefully you too will see the positive effects behind offshore drilling.