What does offshore drilling mean?
Offshore drilling is the practice of extracting natural resources hidden beneath the ocean floor, usually oil or natural gas. As you probably know, due to the recent Gulf coast oil spill caused by an exploding rig, the topic is very controversial.
The first submerged oil wells were drilled in 1891 in a lake in Ohio. As the years went by, the equipent used became more sophisticated and depth barriers were conquered. The main offshore drilling activities are most fruitful in the North Sea, the Gulf Coast , off the shores of Brazil and Newfoundland, as well as the shores by West Africa and Russia.
Offshore drilling is not favored by conservationists because the danger of spillage either in harvesting or transportation, A major oil spill takes on awful toll on wildlife and their habitats. The trend today is to drill, gather and refine all on the rig en situ at the ocean. Also bear in mind that drilling can be accomplished fom different depths, depending on the regulation of the ocean limits of the country owning the area.
Drilling can range from depths of 150 feet to 5000 ft of water. Keep your eye on the news, the laws concerning offshore drilling rig specifications, depths, safety testing and other issues regarding crude oil harvesting from beneath the sea will continue to be hot-button topics.
