Should offshore drilling be banned

Answer 1

Sometimes a simple question does not have a simple answer. In answering questions in Wikipedia, I do not take sides, and can not give you a simple yes or no answer. Wikipedia provides information and those with personal opinions need to post them on other sites.

The BP oil spill has made everyone very aware of the catastrophic consequences of errors. Offshore drilling has its supporters and adversaries. I have included a few links which give both sides.

Offshore drilling is conducted in many areas of the world. After the oil spill, some countries are looking at requiring more safety measures (Libya in particular).

The deepwater drilling and high temperature/ high pressure target pay zones adds difficulty and risk to the drilling operations. There is a temporary ban on new exploratory deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico although this has been challenged in court. The planned leasing of new exploratory blocks offshore Florida has been halted by President Obama.

Those in favor of the ban feel the environmental and safety risk of offshore drilling in these particular cases is too high. They feel more study of the risks should be done before drilling permits are issued.

Those opposed to the ban state that the country need to produce its own oil (lower imports) and drilling creates jobs. They also consider the BP spill was caused by a few individuals and offshore drilling is safe. Those oppose to the ban also note that the deepwater rigs in the gulf coast area are leaving making it more difficult for oil companies to continue with their plans.

I have greatly simplified the issues, and I suggest you look at the links and other resources on the internet. The NOAA website has considerable reliable information on the BP oil spill environmental impact.