Offshore Drilling

Offshore drilling is all about finding and exploiting natural resources near our shores. Most people take it to mean drilling off the coasts in oceans. But inland seas are prime areas for offshore drilling as well.

offshore drilling

Offshore drilling was first attempted in the late 1800′s offshore near a city called Baku in Azerbaijan. Around that time Russia, who controlled the country, auctioned off oil rights to make money. Drilling here accounted for half the world’s oil by 1900. After the communist revolution in Russia and WW1, turmoil in the area interfered with further oil extraction.

Today many coastal areas host offshore drilling. There have been new fields found off coasts on both sides of the US.

In 1981 the US Congress placed a ban on offshore drilling off the east and west coasts of the country. But with a greater demand for oil there has been talk of lifting those bans. The US government doesn’t have athority outside of US territory. Foreign powers have begun looking at these coastal areas for oil. These countries include China and Venezuela.

offshore oil drilling

There are some issues involved with offshore drilling. The first of these is keeping a rig above sea level. The rigs stand on tall pylons. They still have to be mobile, which is a challenge. Other types of rigs are designed to float over the drill area. They cost less but are hazardous to maintain. They move with the waves which can create problems.

A second issue for offshore drilling is the pressure on the fluid column. It also takes more energy to lift away the sand. More and more operations now do this at the ocean floor, or simply pump the sand and oil to shore prior to separation.

Human concerns are also important with offshore drilling. It requires that people live on the rigs for extended periods. The rig is essentially a town. Shifts are normally two weeks. Offshore workers earn a lot of money in return for those extended shifts.

offshore drilling companies

As long as the world needs oil the world needs offshore drilling.

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