Offshore HPHT Drilling Not Necessarily the Safest Option
This past summer's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has once again sparked the debate over the safety and necessity of offshore drilling. The US government, more specifically the Obama Administration, immediately placed a moratorium on all offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico while the accident was being investigated. The moratorium resulted in thousands of oil workers being laid off and millions of lost dollars to the coastal economies. But seemingly lost in all of this debate is why offshore HPHT drilling is even necessary.
Most experts, advocates, and concerned citizens on both sides of the political spectrum agree it is inherently more dangerous to drill for oil in deep-sea environments than it is to drill on land. Yet oil companies have been driven into the Gulf of Mexico by an environmental policy that refuses to allow land-based oil drilling. The contradiction is sometimes mind numbing.
In the state of California, for example, there are areas so rich in oil it is seeping out of the ground. At a golf course in one such area, parts of some fairways are out of bounds because of pools of crude oil. Yet oil companies are not allowed to drill in these locations for fear that such drilling would harmful. Does this make sense?
Is it more harmful to the environment to drill on land or at sea? Is it more dangerous for oil workers at land-based operations or deep sea rigs? Is a spill on land easier to clean up then one at sea?
Geological surveys seem to indicate there is enough crude oil under American soil to make the need for offshore drilling completely unnecessary. If the U.S. government would allow oil companies to take advantage of land-based drilling sites, they could greatly reduce the environmental risk posed by deep-sea wells. They could also increase the efficiency of oil drilling, thereby increasing the quantity of domestic oil and bringing down the price.
What's even more puzzling is the willingness of the U.S. to financially support the offshore drilling of countries like Venezuela. Millions of dollars of American taxpayer money is going to fund foreign oil drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico while domestic rigs remain idle. So, while Central and South American countries are taking advantage of their oil reserves without issue, the U.S. continues to buy the majority of its oil from enemies in the Middle East.
Perhaps one day Washington will be inhabited by leaders with at least a modicum of sanity. Until then we can continue to expect oil companies to be driven further and further out to sea until it becomes completely unprofitable for them to operate.
But perhaps that is the plan?