The need for oil as an energy source continues to grow daily; to satisfy this need or appetite, large oil companies such as Chevron and BP are becoming increasingly reliant on offshore drilling. According to this article Chevron is seeking offshore drilling in South China Sea, a body of water located about 150 miles from Hong Kong. This body of water was abandoned for many years until June 2006 when Husky Energy, an oil company in Canada, discovered about four to six trillion cubic feet of attainable gas beneath the surface (equivalent to 22 billion barrels of oil). In addition to Chevron, BP was also given approval by the Chinese government to take part in the offshore drilling, despite the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In this project Chevron will act as an operator, taking the majority stake in the block, and BP will take the remaining. These companies are also required to sign production sharing contracts with Cnooc(China National Offshore Oil Corp ) that says that China has the right to take a majority interest for any amount of oil or gas that is discovered by Chevron. According to the article Devon, a North American oil company, sold its assets (24.5% interest) in the South China Sea for about 515 million dollars. As companies such as Chevron and BP move even deeper in offshore drilling Devon reverts back to domestic drilling.
I find it very interesting how companies such as BP and chevron are free to participate in offshore drilling after the accidents that took place in the Gulf of Mexico. I think it would be better if oil companies follow Devon in moving toward domestic drilling.
~Mimi Tekeste
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575477250932405706.html?mod=WSJ_Energy_leftHeadlines#articleTabs%3Darticle
We are coming up with new and advanced technologies that facilities drilling, technologies that help us see under the earth’s surface so we know exactly where and how far to drill to get what the world is trusting for- oil. With these technologies considered and the new drilling location In South China, it seems as if we making some kind of progress as a country or even as a world, however I can’t help but think about what this is doing to our planet. I wonder how long this will go on, and I wonder how long this can go on. The real solution is not finding other location where we can find recoverable gas reserves but finding ways to limit our oil or gas usage. The need for oil will continue to increase as the country experiences an increase in population and as living standards “improve” (calling for more automobiles and technologies); while our oil supply will continue to diminish.
ReplyDelete~Mimi Tekeste
Mimi, I agree with you, especially in BP's case. While BP is already spending millions of dollars in advertising to improve the image of their company, I think it will hurt them to increase their interest in off-shore drilling. They should work on promoting an image of a "new BP" one that has learned from its past mistakes. The pursuit of off-shore drilling with only damper its already poor image.
ReplyDelete- Caitlin McGonnigal
I do agree with both of these comments to an extent. Personally I feel that offshore drilling is a hazard to the environment in general but however we need to look into offshore drilling to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to bridge us into the alternative energy age. If we stop using oil all together than our society will shut down we need cheap affordable oil now while we are still developing new alternative energy options. Personally I wish that we could have alternative energy now but that is not the case and offshore drilling must be done to bridge our way into it.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Parker