Oil Spill Essay

Submitted By kailabee3
Words: 2306
Pages: 10
Open Document
Kaila Brooks Writing 1010
Zach Chatterley 6 December 2011
Deep Sea Drilling: Dangerous or Useful? Deep sea drilling is becoming more of a problem as oil companies are finding ways to drill deeper into the earth’s surface. The water pressures at depths of 7,000 feet under the surface are as much as 200 times that of the atmosphere (Margolis). Companies continue to drill not knowing if they will be successful in discovering oil. Although deep sea drilling makes up almost 10% of our oil supply, there is much harm that comes with it (Hargreaves). If something were to go wrong during the process of drilling it could pose a threat to the species that live in the same water. While oil companies are only looking at how much of a profit they can gain, the risks of dangerous leaking should be the main concern. While drilling deep into the ocean certain precautions need to be taken regarding the heat, salt and gas below the sea floor, as well as the effect it could have on the equipment. “‘If the pressure was too great, and the right precaution not taken, the well could have been blown and the platform set on fire’” (Bueno). This goes to show that deep sea drilling is more dangerous than it is beneficial. The fact that drillers are willing to take such huge risks for something which may not produce a profit is morally incorrect. Off the shore of Brazil a drilling company spent 240 million dollars in just 14 months and came up with almost nothing (Margolis). Spending so much time on a project without knowing if you the end result will finish with an outcome of a finance gain is purely selfish and greedy; after one takes into account all the innocent animals these oil workers are harming. Sea animals have never done anything to threaten our lives so it is not fair that we threaten theirs. Drilling deep into the waters is extremely harmful and dangerous to the animals that have made homes there. These harmful conditions of oil leaking into the ocean, has the potential to cause detrimental harm to ocean life. Oil that is spilled into these waters has long term effects that are not usually taken into consideration before oil drilling is done. It can take up to several years to clean the oil out of the water, which results in leaving helpless animals to be trapped in an environment not suitable to live in. The oil spill that occurred on April 20, 2010 off the Gulf of Mexico was one of the biggest that the United States has ever been faced with. The Deepwater Horizon was a rig which was said to be able to drill at depths of up to 5,000 feet. However an unexpected explosion occurred from the Deepwater Horizon off the coast of Louisiana, which killed 11 men and injured 17 others (Robertson). The explosion is believed to be caused by methane gas that was under too much pressure and engulfed the platform in flames. “The fire burned for up to 36 hours before the rig sank, and hydrocarbons leaked into The Gulf of Mexico for 87 days before the well was closed and sealed” says Deepwater Horizon Accident. BP (British Petroleum) did not know how much the rig was leaking, but they underestimated the leak by almost double. Robertson says that BP estimated the leak at 2,000 barrels per day, and later found out that it was actually leaking up to 5,000 barrels per day. The spill did not only affect the innocent sea animals but it affected us as the people as well. After the spill gas prices sky rocketed in fear that the oil supply was quickly running out. It is said that the oil spill could have been prevented if BP would have plugged a small leak they had found weeks earlier, but they were not successful in completing this (Barrett). After the spill it took BP up to three months to stop the rig from continually leaking oil into the waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Fifty to sixty percent of the oil spilled is said to have been left on the surface, while only thirty percent was able to evaporate. BP says that they tried to put a containment
Show More

Related Documents: Oil Spill Essay

BP Oil Spill

In the case of the Deepwater Horizon accident, I believe that the cost cutting measures that BP committed are what were truly detrimental to the oil rig and affected its safety. When you have a project that is so expensive to run in the first place, it is completely understandable that the company would do what it could to cut costs and minimize their financial risk. Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and BP was merely the renter (Crandall, Parnell & Spillan, 2013). By the…

Words 288 - Pages 2

Essay On Oil Spills

Oil spills occur due to the release of the liquid petroleum hydrocarbon in the environment, especially in marine areas. This released oil floats over the surface of the body thus preventing the sunlight to pass through it and making it difficult for the plants and animals to survive below water level. The three main effects of oil spillage are listed below:- 1. Environmental Effects: First of these is the environmental effect. The animal life that lives in the water or near the shore is the ones…

Words 822 - Pages 4

BP Oil Spill

Oil spills happen every year, many of the incidences are small; however expansive spills occur every few years that can debilitate an eco-system. (Center for Environmental Diversity, 2014) Of these spills, the largest accidental off-shore oil spill in U.S. history is the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill that devastated the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It began on the morning of April 20th when a bubble of high pressure methane gas from the well expanded up through the drilling riser…

Words 1549 - Pages 7

Murfy Oil Spill

Management Student Number:E11BO020380FN Table of Content 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Oil Spill 1.3. Critical Analysis of the Accident 2.1. Environmental Impact 2.2. Recommendations Summary and conclusions References company: Murfy Oil Consulting services 1.1. Introduction The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been called several names such as ‘Macondo Blowout, Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and BP oil spill. The unfortunate event seriously affected the company’s business and also caused…

Words 2968 - Pages 12

Gulf Oil Spill

Analysis: 1. When the oil was slowly poured onto the water at a steady pace, the oil floated on top of the water. This resulted because oil is less dense then water, meaning that it has less mass in its given volume (less densely packed particles) and its particles aren’t as attracted to each other. Oil’s density is 0.93 g/cm3 compared to water’s density which is 1.0 g/cm3. 2. Of the three methods we used to contain our mini oil spill I would have to say that skimmers would not only be the most efficient…

Words 972 - Pages 4

Bp Oil Spill

B.P Oil Spill Disaster On April 20, 2010 the B.P Company Rig had an oil spill, which spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The name of the rig was Deepwater Horizon. The disaster affected Marine Life, Fishing Industry. It disaster also affected Tourism. Lastly, for the first time in 87 days, oil has stopped flowing. The clean up estimate was about 12.5 billion dollars. One harmful effect was on Marine Life, which leaded to having a big problem for people and animals. For example, animals like Seabirds…

Words 435 - Pages 2

Oil Spill and Spill Prevention Plans Essay

EPA’s Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Rule It doesn’t take a lot of oil to do significant damage to the environment. In fact, as little as one gallon of oil can contaminate one million gallons of water. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule is designed to prevent oil spills from damaging our water and natural resources. By developing spill prevention plans and taking basic precautions, farmers and livestock…

Words 597 - Pages 3

The Impact Of Bp's Oil Spill

BP’s oil spill is still relevant. Beaches, wetlands, wildlife, and people livelihood has forever been changed due to this oil spill. There are still tar balls that dot the beaches where people once enjoyed spending time, and relaxation. The marine species continue to slowly die. Several businesses continue to struggle. Fisheries complain of lack of oyster’s production, fish, and crab. Before the oil spill their businesses were booming; now it’s just a thing of the past. Since the oil spill, BP has…

Words 233 - Pages 1

Bp Oil Spill Analysis

After the BP oil spill, there were many changes to offshore drilling that were put into place for the good of everyone involved. The first step in more regulation came about on July 26, 2010, when the HOR passed a pair of bills that were aimed at promoting safer deep-water drilling and providing a better response and cleanup for oil spills. Also, the Senate Committee passed legislation to give the Coast Guard more resources to prevent future spills from happening. The first bill, the research and…

Words 472 - Pages 2

Gulf Oil Spill Essay

Gulf Oil Spill ENV/100 July 21, 2014 Lori Keller Gulf Oil Spill The Gulf Oil Spill has become the worst oil spill in United States history. Ultimately the spill ended up being 90 days of a leakage that resulted from an explosion of a wellhead deep below the ocean’s surface. (“Ocean Portal”, 2013) Unfortunately this spill has caused many problems in the earth’s atmosphere as well as with wildlife. The spill has caused a type of air pollutants that are called aerosols. Aerosols are…

Words 767 - Pages 4