...Offshore Drilling – To Drill or Not to Drill The Effects of Drilling on the Environment and Business Lydia M. Wityk Strayer University Abstract This paper will explore the business of oil companies drilling off the coast line of the United States. It will explore the benefits from the business of oil companies to the detrimental effects of the oil spills from the offshore drilling. Should we continue to drill for oil off the coast with the possibility of additional spillage into the oceans. We know that oil spills damage the environment, and the social and economic welfare of the residents in the area. At the same time the oil companies can positively affect the economy and the United State’s welfare. In comparing both sides of the argument I will look at the past and current oil companies to determine if they acted morally in their everyday business practice. At this post-BP disaster era, the United States is questioning whether we should continue to drill and expand our drilling. I will utilize the consequentialist theory to determine what would be the best next step for the U.S. to take. Using the current information gathered on BP’s business practice and the effects of the oil spill, I will weigh the ratio of good to bad to determine my opinion on whether to drill or not to drill. Off Shore Drilling – To Drill or Not to Drill The Effects of Drilling on the Environment and Business The United States has been offshore drilling for oil since...
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...In this research paper, I will be talking about offshore oil drilling and how this will affect Florida. I will give you a little history about this subject and what lead up to the conflict between the people and the politicians. First, we will start out with a little history, we know that offshore oil drilling was only allowed in certain coastal areas. On March 30, 2010, the New Times reported that Obama decided to open offshore drilling to Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Alaska coastline for oil and natural gas. The area that was proposed was a compromise between the oil corporations and national drilling activists. The only problem with this is many residents that this effected would be upset along with environmental groups. Plus, it will...
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...Stop Offshore Drilling The environmental impacts of offshore oil drilling greatly outweigh the economic benefits provided. Although it has been a continuous activity for more than a decade, One can not help but wonder why offshore drilling continues when considering the pollution caused, how it eliminates the supply of natural resources, murders innocent sea creatures, and actually damages the national economy. There are, however, solutions to this problem. Before solutions can be presented, it is important to discuss the various problems. First, offshore oil drilling results in both sea and land based pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, claims that "with offshore drilling comes substantial routine pollution in the forms of oil and gas." By routine, the EPA means "a near constant flow from oil rigs and derricks" (Sisskin). Nothing is ever done about the pollution, and until something is done about the oil being put into the sea, our oceans are at risk. So just how much oil is put in the oceans? According to a study conducted by the World Research Institute, "...between 3 and 6 million tons of oil are discharged into the oceans every year" (Gorman 48). To put this in perspective, that is approximately 4 football stadiums filled to the top with oil. That is just every year...and this has been going on for more than a decade. In total, 45 million tons of oil in the past ten years that have been put into the oceans. There are several ways that oil ends up in...
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...Offshore Drilling Does anything out weigh the importance of our planet’s health? You would be surprised by the number of people who look the other way when it comes to keeping the planet clean. Offshore drilling is just one of the major environmental issues that has existed for many years and still continues to be a problem. The topic of offshore drilling not only touches on environmental issues but also political, economic, and ethical issues. All of these tie into the huge debate over offshore drilling and its impacts on the environment. But when the human race depends on oil, how can we ignore the fact of drilling for oil off the coast of our land. Investing in greenhouse energy is just one of several ways to help keep the environment clean and continue to get the energy we need. America needs to realize that offshore drilling is a leading factor in pollution and we can’t keep collecting oil like this forever, we need to discontinue this process of drilling off shore and expand our possible options of renewable energy. So you might be asking yourself “how does offshore drilling affect our environment?” It all starts with finding the oil. The oil companies use a system like sonar that sends out waves, these “Seismic waves used to locate oil can harm sea mammals and disorient whales. ExxonMobil recently had to suspend exploration efforts near Madagascar after more than 100 whales beached themselves” (HowStuffWorks). Just the thought of going to your local beach to find...
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...exciting and hopeful. If there is a chance to save our planted from more damage, then the government needs to act now. The United States offshore drilling debate is still ongoing, and the argument is that the United States benefits because it becomes less dependent on imported oil. There is also the argument that offshore drilling would affect military training and weapon testing. However, my argument is that offshore drilling poses a much greater threat to all civilization. When waste is spilled into the ocean it spreads throughout the water harming marine life and their habitat. It can affect their hearing, changes in their behavior and can even cause physical injuring or death. Much of the marine life is threatened by extinction. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has threatens our planet with environmental damage. Oil spills like this fill the air with toxins that raise concern for many health problems. When oil is recovered from the ocean floor chemicals and toxins come to the surface, which are the released into the air. This is a growing concern and should not be dismissed. The Center for Biological Diversity (2010) says that six months after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, spilled oil still fouls beaches and wetlands, birds and endangered sea turtles continue to suffer crippling effects, and the...
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...I believe that the United States should invest money into alternate fueling sources. Off shore drilling at this point is environmentally unsafe. Our environment is changing due to global warming, and off shore drilling makes this worse. I feel very strongly about greedy oil companies destroying the planet in pursuit of more oil at the cost of our endangered species and the health of the American people. Oil companies already hold 5,500 offshore leases that are not being used. I do not know why they need to occupy more space, when they can use what the government has allowed them to use. Now, I do agree changing to solar and wind powered fuel sources will require research and additional funding, however those fuel sources are more eco friendly and in the long run may leave the world in a better position. I must admit, sometimes I fall in to a mindset that is commonly known as stereotyping. As explained in this book “The Art of Thinking”, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, chapter 3, a stereotype is a fixed, unbending generalization, irrationally maintained. I have fallen in to this on many issues; I do not believe that my stance on off shore drilling is an issue of stereotyping. I have reassured my stance by reading and researching this stance. As stated in a USA Today article (Jervis, Welch, & Wolf, 7/14), “When oil is brought up from beneath the ocean floor, other things are, too. Chemicals and toxic substances such as mercury and lead can be discharged back into the ocean”. The oil...
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...response plan. This failure will be considered in light of current international environmental regulations on OSRPP and applicable United States legislation, whilst assessing the BP oil spill response plan’s compliance therewith. The study will also consider some theory in the development of OSRPP by looking specifically at risk assessment tools and applying key criteria to the BP oil spill response plan to determine its adequacy and appropriateness for its operations in the GOM. What the research will show is that the ill preparedness of BP and the U.S. Government to effectively respond to the blow out is symptomatic of the significant gaps in both industry and government’s existing response capacity in dealing with deep-water drilling environments primarily as a result of insufficient risk assessment, lax regulation and enforcement, and a lack of coordination in...
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...search for oil in Alaska, the Gulf Coast, and other areas within the country that are currently not being explored. I believe that the United States should invest money into alternate fueling sources. Off shore drilling at this point is environmentally unsafe. Our environment is changing due to global warming, and off shore drilling makes this worse. I feel very strongly about greedy oil companies destroying the planet in pursuit of more oil at the cost of our endangered species and the health of the American people. Oil companies already hold 5,500 offshore leases that are not being used. I do not know why they need to occupy more space, when they can use what the government has allowed them to use. Now, I do agree changing to solar and wind powered fuel sources will require research and additional funding, however those fuel sources are more eco friendly and in the long run may leave the world in a better position. I must admit, sometimes I fall in to a mindset that is commonly known as stereotyping. As explained in this book “The Art of Thinking”, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, chapter 3, a stereotype is a fixed, unbending generalization, irrationally maintained. I have fallen in to this on many issues; I do not believe that my stance on off shore drilling is an issue of stereotyping. I have reassured my stance by reading and researching this stance. As stated in a USA Today...
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...example, from the improper disposal of used motor oil. Offshore drilling and production operations and spills or leaks from ships or tankers typically contribute less...
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...Offshore Drilling Incorporated Introduction On April 1, 1998, John Dolittle received a call he feared would be coming. His client, Linda Sprague, the President of Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation (PEPCO), wanted to default on PEPCO’s contract with John’s company, Offshore Drilling Incorporated (ODI). Sprague gave two weeks notice until the papers would be filed. ODI is an offshore drilling contractor that provides mobile drilling rigs, as well as the expertise and personnel to drill the wells on behalf of exploration and production (E&P) companies. John’s client, PEPCO, was one such company. ODI had developed and was operating a rig for PEPCO, and the contract specified that PEPCO would pay ODI a fixed fee, or “day rate” for each day ODI spent on site drilling for oil with the rig. The day rate specified in the contract between PEPCO and ODI translated into roughly $105,000 per day. When the 39-month contract was first signed, in December of 1995, the price of oil was roughly $19 per barrel, and this left PEPCO with a healthy profit. Since the beginning of December of 1997, however, the spot price of oil had dropped about 20%, from about $19.00 to less than $15.00 per barrel. (See Exhibit 1.) When the price of oil drops below the cost of production, E&P companies typically halt production and exploration, and this was one option that PEPCO was considering. In this case, PEPCO would default on its contract with ODI, and this might lead the two companies into costly...
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...Noble Corporation Project Windmill Can Noble Corporation’s Core Competency in Health, Safety, Environmental & Operational Excellence Be Extended to a Major Acquisition? By Dr. Brooks Holtom McDonough School of Business Georgetown University With Assistance from Michael Amante, Georgetown University Mike Cadigan, Noble Drilling Services Inc. Noble Corporation Noble Corporation’s International Expansion Introduction As Jim Day, the CEO of Noble Corporation for 12 years, looked at the reports before him, he made a list of the many uncertainties inherent in the potential acquisition of Neddrill—the oil and gas drilling services subsidiary of Royal Nedlloyd N.V., a Dutch shipping company. First was the quality of the drilling assets. As far as his people could tell, the rigs would all require significant investment to bring them up to Noble standards. But the exact amount was unknown. Second was the industry’s inability to accurately forecast future dayrates (daily revenue for drilling on behalf of clients) for the rigs. Many insiders expected rates to rise but they had been wrong before with major consequences. Acquiring costly drilling assets could prove very risky if the dayrates went down instead. Third was the complexity introduced by buying a large international firm whose employees were not overly enthusiastic about joining a U.S. based driller. An inability to efficiently integrate the Neddrill assets and people into Noble would reduce the value of the acquisition...
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...December 2, 2010 Finance 573 Dr. John Settle Rick Watson Contents Executive Summary 4 Company Overview 5 Sale Thesis 6 Energy Industry Overview (Oil and Gas Focus) 7 The “Upstream” Oil and Gas Sub-Sector Overview (Offshore Focus) 8 Macro-Level Trends in the Oil & Gas Industry 11 Industry Attractiveness Using Porters Five Forces 13 Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Low 13 Bargaining Power of Customers: Medium 13 Threat of New Entrants: Low 13 Threat of Substitute Products: High 14 Government Action: Medium 14 Competitive Rivalry: Medium 14 Five Forces Summary 14 Ensco’s Operations & SWOT Analysis 15 Strengths & Weaknesses 15 Opportunities & Threats 16 Financial Performance 17 Revenue, Cost of Sales, Net Income, & Margins 17 Capital Expenditures 18 Return on Assets 18 Relative Valuations 19 Financial Forecast 21 Discounted Cash Flow Valuation 22 Conclusion and Recommendation 23 Table of Figures Figure 1) World-Wide Energy Consumption Growth since 1965. 7 Figure 2) Example Photograph and Diagram of "Jackup" Oil Rigs 9 Figure 3) Example Photograph and Diagram of "Semisubmersible" Oil Rigs 9 Figure 4) Comparison of the Average Size of 2009 Oil Field Discoveries: Offshore vs. Onshore 10 Figure 5) Historical WTI Oil Prices 11 Figure 6) Historical and Projected Jackup Rig Demand 12 Figure 7) EIA Projected Global Demand for Energy through 2035. 12 Figure 8) Jackup Utilization Comparison &...
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...Drilling For Oil In ANWR, Is It Worth It? Alexander Payne - Engineering Student, University of West Florida Abstract - This report will take an objective look at the possibilities of drilling for oil in Alaska. We will take a look at all of the possible benefits and good that could come out of this, as well as all of the drawbacks and negative effects that can come from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This report will also take a look at some possible alternatives to drilling for oil in ANWR that could possibly reap the same benefits, if not more. Index Terms – Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Porcupine Caribou, Mineral Rights, Surface Rights, Aleuts, Eskimos, Tlingits, Crude Oil, Fossil Fuels, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Cellulosic Ethanol, oil rig, oil spill. Introduction: Oil and its uses 1 What is Oil? There many things referred to as “oil”, but in our case, oil is a liquid substance derived from petroleum that is used as a fuel source in hundreds of different applications, and it is also used as a lubricant. Oil is considered to be one of three main fossil fuels, the other two being coal and natural gas. As you probably know, fossil fuels are nonrenewable because it takes far too many years for nature to reproduce what we are taking away from it. 2 Uses Of Oil Just about anything you can think of that runs off of an engine more than likely uses oil. Just to name off some other uses, oil can...
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...Natural Resources and Energy Paper People, Science, and the Environment SCI 256 “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” (Gandhi, 2011) Did Gandhi have foresight into the destructive ways of humans? Earth seemed to have endless amenities that would take humans a lifetime to consume. With the abundance of these amenities, have humans failed to conserve and nurture nature’s gifts in the name of greed? In this paper, the subject to identify and discuss will be the effects that a growing human population may have on the marine ecosystem’s resources, including loss or harm to population of wild species; discuss one management practice of sustainability and conservation of natural resources in the marine ecosystem. Finally, the paper will identify is the risks and benefits of extracting or using one type of nonrenewable and one type of renewable energy resource from the marine ecosystem. From a distance in space humans look at this planet called Earth. Earth covers the massive blue oceans of life. Planet Earth humans call home consist of numerous types of land and marine species from the deepest part of the ocean to the clear shallow water of sandy beaches that lie within an ecosystem. The marine ecosystem is so complex but at the same time it is not complicated. Humans cannot see creatures with the naked eye but can spot a massive blue whale from a distance;...
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...Oil Drilling Jasmine A. Richardson Freshman Seminar Friday 10:20-11:20 Throughout the years the government has spent millions of dollars on oil drilling. But what is the actual purpose of oil drilling? Is it necessary? Are we spending too much money on this one project or is it useful in the end? These questions have been debated so much over and over again. But the question is am I for or against oil drilling? Oil drilling takes up too much time and money for one simple purpose. It takes time and a workload to even begin this process. In order to perform a normal oil drilling process you have to find a land that has to be cleared and leveled, water must be nearby, if there is no water the crews have to dig water well, and lastly the crews have to reserve a pit. All of this is very expensive and damaging to the land. In an article in Bloomberg Business week it was recorded that marathon oil spent 10 million on oil drilling and that was just for one time. If oil drilling is really purposeful for the country why make it so expensive? There aren’t any other resources to finding oil? And the main objective is if we’re spending so much money on oil drilling then why are we even fighting in the war anymore? The damages to the land are excruciating and the government always ends up paying for the damages so that’s double to money they’re spending. One expensive tool they use to capture the oil is the oil rig. They use it to drill into the ground so that they can confiscate...
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