How is oil drilled in the ocean

Nearly all offshore oil and natural gas leasing and development activity currently occurs in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, where thousands of platforms operate in waters up to 6, feet deep. A few platforms operate in depths of 10, feet or more. Oil and petroleum products explained Offshore oil and gas. What is energy? Units and calculators. Use of energy. Energy and the environment. Also in What is energy? Forms of energy Sources of energy Laws of energy.

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Nonrenewable sources. Figure 5. Deep-sea communities near drilling activities. C Atlantic roughy, Hoplostethus occidentalis, among L. D Appearance in of a Paramuricea biscaya colony damaged during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in E,F : Methane-seep communities from an area within the exclusive economic zone of Trinidad and Tobago that is targeted for future oil and gas development.

Impacts from oil and gas operations may be compounded in some settings by other anthropogenic disturbances, particularly as human impacts on the deep-sea environment continue to increase e. Climate and ocean change, including higher temperatures, expansion of oxygen minimum zones, and ocean acidification, will exacerbate the more direct impacts of the oil and gas industry through increased metabolic demand.

Multiple stressors can operate as additive effects, synergistic effects, or antagonistic effects Crain et al. While studies of the interactions between climate variables temperature, oxygen, pH, CO 2 and drilling impacts are rare or non-existent, multiple stressors typically have antagonistic effects at the community level, but synergistic effects at the population level Crain et al. At the most basic level, experimental work has shown that increased temperature generally increases the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons and other compounds Cairns et al.

Deep-water fisheries have a significant impact on deep-sea species, with detrimental effects extending to habitats and ecosystems beyond the target populations Benn et al. Some authors note that the physical presence of oil and gas infrastructure may protect fished species or habitats by de facto creating fisheries exclusion zones Hall, ; Love et al. Although the value of oil and gas infrastructure in secondary production and fisheries, particularly in deep waters, is controversial Bohnsack, ; Baine, ; Ponti, ; Powers et al.

Oil industry infrastructure may therefore have some positive effects, even in deep water Macreadie et al. Oil-field infrastructure can also provide hard substratum for colonization by benthic invertebrates, including scleractinian corals and octocorals Hall, ; Sammarco et al.

The widely-distributed coral L. These man-made structures may enhance population connectivity Atchison et al. Therefore, the increased connectivity provided by these artificial structures may be viewed both positively and negatively, and it is difficult to make predictions about the potential benefits or harm of the increased availability of deep-sea hard substrata.

Oil and gas operations have the potential to result in accidental releases of hydrocarbons, with the likelihood of an accidental spill or blowout increasing with the depth of the operations Muehlenbachs et al. The U. On the U. In addition, on a global scale there were spills over barrels that occurred during offshore transport of oil in the period between and , or one every 2. The greatest risk to the marine environment comes from an uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from the reservoir, known as a blowout Johansen et al.

Risk modeling suggests that an event the size of the Deepwater Horizon incident can be broadly predicted to occur on an interval between 8 and 91 years, or a rough average of once every 17 years Eckle et al.

The best-studied example of a major deep-sea blowout was at the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in Joye et al. The surface oil slicks interacted with planktonic communities and mineral particles to form an emulsion of oiled marine snow Passow et al.

Impacts at the seabed, as revealed by elevated hydrocarbon concentrations and changes to the nematode-copepod ratio, were detected in an area of over km 2 , with patchy impacts observed to a radius of 45 km from the well site Montagna et al. This oiled marine snow was also implicated in impacts on mesophotic and deep-sea coral communities White et al. Deep-sea coral communities were contaminated by a layer of flocculent material that included oil fingerprinted to the Macondo well, and constituents of the chemical dispersant used in the response effort White et al.

Impacts on corals were detected at a number of sites, extending to 22 km from the well, and to water depths m exceeding that of the well-head Hsing et al.

Elevated hydrocarbon concentrations and changes to infaunal communities were reported from sediment samples taken adjacent to the impacted coral sites Fisher et al. Dispersants or chemical emulsifiers are applied to oil spills in an effort to disperse surface slicks. Globally, there have been over documented instances of dispersant use between and Steen, Dispersant applications typically are successful in dispersing large oil aggregations, although their effectiveness varies with oil composition, mixing dynamics, temperature, salinity, and the presence of light Weaver, ; Henry, ; NRC, ; Chandrasekar et al.

Dispersant use can cause increases in environmental hydrocarbon concentrations Pace et al. Dispersants increase the surface area for oil-water interactions Pace et al. However, in the case of the Deepwater Horizon accident, dispersant use was shown to impede hydrocarbon degradation by microorganisms Kleindienst et al. Chemically-dispersed oil is known to reduce larval settlement, cause abnormal development, and produce tissue degeneration in sessile invertebrates Epstein et al.

Dispersant exposure alone has proved toxic to shallow-water coral larvae Goodbody-Gringley et al. Some of the potentially toxic components of dispersants may persist in the marine environment for years White et al. Typical impacts from drilling may persist over long time scales years to decades in the deep sea Table 3. In deep waters, the generally low-energy hydrodynamic regime may lead to long-term persistence of discharged material, whether it be intentional or accidental Neff, ; Chanton et al.

Sediment contamination by hydrocarbons, particularly PAHs, is of particular concern, as these compounds can persist for decades, posing significant risk of prolonged ecotoxicological effects. Hydrocarbons from the Prestige spill, off the Galician coast, were still present in intertidal sediments 10 years post-spill Bernabeu et al. In the Faroe-Shetland Channel — m , visible drill cuttings reduced from a radius of over 85—35 m over a 3-year period, while an adjacent 10 year-old well-site exhibited visually distinct cuttings piles at a radius of only 15—20 m Jones et al.

Recovery of benthic habitats may take longer at sites where bottom water movements limit dispersal of cuttings Breuer et al. Much of the deep-sea floor is characterized by comparatively low temperatures and low food supply rates. Consequently, deep-sea communities and individuals generally exhibit a slower pace of life than their shallow-water counterparts reviewed in Gage and Tyler, ; McClain and Schlacher, Cold-seep tubeworms and deep-water corals exhibit slow growth and some of the greatest longevities among marine metazoans, typically decades to hundreds of years, but occasionally to thousands of years Fisher et al.

Recruitment and colonization dynamics are not well-understood for these assemblages, but recruitment appears to be slow and episodic in cold-seep tubeworms Cordes et al. Because of the combination of slow growth, long life spans and variable recruitment, recovery from impacts can be prolonged.

Based on presumed slow recolonization rates of uncontaminated deep-sea sediments Grassle, , low environmental temperatures, and consequently reduced metabolic rates Baguley et al. For deep-sea corals, recovery time estimates are on the order of centuries to millennia Fisher et al.

However, in some cases re-colonization may be relatively rapid, for example, significant macrofaunal recruitment on cuttings piles after 6 months Trannum et al. Altered benthic species composition may, nevertheless, persist for years to decades Netto et al. Direct studies of recovery from drilling in deep water are lacking and the cumulative effects of multiple drilling wells are not well-studied.

Environmental management takes many forms. We focus on management activities that mitigate the adverse environmental effects of oil and gas development, specifically addressing avoidance- and minimization-type approaches World Bank, Here, we consider three complementary strategies: i activity management, ii temporal management, and iii spatial management Table 1. In activity management, certain practices or discharges are restricted or banned, or certain technologies are employed to reduce the environmental impact of operations.

An example of activity management is the phasing out of drilling muds that used diesel oil as their base. These drilling fluids biodegrade very slowly, have a high toxicity, and exposure to them can result in negative environmental consequences Davies et al. In addition, many countries have introduced restrictions on the discharge of lower-toxicity organic-phase drilling muds i. The elimination of these discharges has led to demonstrably reduced extents of drilling impacts Figure 4 , from thousands of meters around wells drilled using oil-based muds Davies et al.

Restrictions are also imposed on the discharge of produced water, with produced water typically being expected to be re-injected into subsurface formations, or to be cleaned to meet national oil-in-produced water discharge limits before being disposed into the sea Ahmadun et al. During exploration activities, activity management may be required for seismic surveys, because the intense acoustic energy can cause ecological impacts particularly to marine mammals.

In many countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, Canada, and Australia, mitigation protocols have been developed to reduce the risk of adverse impacts on marine mammals Compton et al. Activity management may also be applied to oil and gas industry decommissioning. Although some large installations are exempt, most structures must be taken onshore for disposal; however the environmental impacts caused by removing these large structures may outweigh any negative effects of leaving them in place.

In many other jurisdictions, such as the US, Malaysia, Japan, and Brunei, decommissioned structures may be left in place as artificial reefs Fjellsa, ; Kaiser and Pulsipher, To date, these rig-to-reef proposals are limited to shallow waters, where they are thought to create habitat for commercial and recreational fisheries species.

Temporal management of oil and gas activities is not yet widely applied in deep-water settings. Temporal management approaches are intended to reduce impacts on the breeding, feeding, or migration of fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. Furthermore, seismic operations along marine mammal migration routes or within known feeding or breeding grounds may be restricted during aggregation or migration periods in order to reduce the probability of marine mammals being present in the area during the survey Compton et al.

In addition, soft-start procedures may only be allowed to commence during daylight hours and periods of good visibility to ensure observers can monitor the area around the air gun array and delay or stop seismic operations if necessary Compton et al. Temporal management has also been proposed for the cold-water coral L.

In the NE Atlantic, this species appears to spawn mainly between January and March Brooke and Jarnegren, and the larvae are thought to be highly sensitive to elevated suspended sediment loads, including drill cuttings Larsson et al.

Special steps to strengthen the oil spill emergency response system, including shorter response times during the spawning season have also been implemented. Spatial management prohibits particular activities from certain areas, for example where sensitive species or habitats are present.

This can range from implementing exclusion zones around sensitive areas potentially affected by individual oil and gas operations to establishing formal marine protected areas through legislative processes where human activities deemed to cause environmental harm are prohibited.

The use of EIAs as a tool for identifying local spatial restrictions for deep-water oil and gas operations is widely applied, and specific no-drilling zones mitigation areas are defined by the regulatory authority around sensitive areas known or occurring with high-probability Table 1. The need for spatial restrictions to hydrocarbon development may also be identified at the strategic planning stage. In Norway, for example, regional multi-sector assessments have been undertaken to examine the environmental and socio-economic impacts of various offshore sectors and to develop a set of integrated management plans for Norway's maritime areas.

The plans incorporate information on potential cumulative effects from multiple sectors, potential user conflicts and key knowledge gaps, as well as locations that should be exempt from future hydrocarbon exploration owing to their ecological value and sensitivity to potential effects from offshore drilling Fidler and Noble, ; Olsen et al.

A number of approaches have been used to identify the ecological features and attributes used in setting targets for spatial management, some of which may be relevant in the deep-sea environment. Cold-seep and deep-water coral ecosystems Figure 5 would be considered as VMEs under this framework. However, given that the deep-water oil and gas industry still operates, almost exclusively, within areas of national jurisdiction, and has impacts that differ in extent and character to bottom-contact fishing, the VME concept may not be the most appropriate.

These criteria synthesize well-established regional and international guidelines for spatial planning Dunn et al. Regional cooperation is encouraged in the spatial management of EBSAs, including identifying and adopting appropriate conservation measures and sustainable use, and establishing representative networks of marine protected areas Dunn et al.

Deep-sea habitats that would be considered as VMEs and would also fit many of the EBSA criteria include cold-seep and deep-water coral communities. Both habitats are of particular significance for the management of deep-water oil and gas activities because they frequently occur in areas of oil and gas interest Figure 5. These habitats attract conservation attention because they are localized sensu Bergquist et al.

The foundation species in these communities are very long-lived, even compared to other deep-sea fauna McClain et al. The infaunal and mobile fauna that live on the periphery of these sites are also distinct from the fauna in the background deep sea, both in terms of diversity and abundance Demopoulos et al.

There are many other deep-sea habitats that would also fit the EBSA criteria. These are typically biogenic habitats, where one or several key species ecosystem engineers create habitat for other species. Examples of these include sponges Klitgaard and Tendal, , xenophyophores Levin, , tube-forming protists De Leo et al.

Furthermore, areas of brine seepage, particularly brine basins, may not contain abundant hard substrata, but still support distinct and diverse microbial communities, as well as megafaunal communities e. For spatial management of these sensitive areas to be effective, information on the spatial distribution of features of conservation interest is essential. Mapping these features can be particularly challenging in the deep sea, but advances in technology are improving our ability to identify and locate them e.

Even modest occurrences of deep-water corals can be mapped by both low and high frequency sidescan sonar in settings with relatively low background topography e.

Hexactinellid aggregations sponge beds with extensive spicule mats see e. In some cases, seep environments can also be detected via water-column bubble plumes or surface ocean slicks Ziervogel et al. Relevant oceanographic and environmental datasets can be obtained from local field measurements, global satellite measurements, and compilations from world ocean datasets Georgian et al.

Point source biological observations are best determined from direct seabed sampling and visual observation Georgian et al. Additional data can be derived from historical data e. However, these data must be interpreted with caution as they may include dead and possibly displaced organisms i.

This is often best achieved via visual imaging surveys towed camera, autonomous underwater vehicles, ROVs, manned submersible , which are typically non-destructive and provide valuable data on both biological and environmental characteristics Georgian et al. Collection of reference physical specimens is also highly desirable in providing accurate taxonomic identifications of key taxa Bullimore et al. Together, mapping through remote sensing, habitat suitability models, and ground-truthing by seafloor observations and collections provide adequate maps of ecological features to better inform the trade-offs between conservation and economic interests in advance of exploration or extraction activities Mariano and La Rovere, Areas requiring spatial management may be formally designated as MPAs through executive declarations and legislative processes, or established as a by-product of mandated avoidance rules Table 1.

In the US, these are in the form of National Monuments Presidential executive order , National Marine Sanctuaries congressional designation , fisheries management areas such as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, or, in the case of the oil and gas industry, through Notices to Lessees issued by the U. In many jurisdictions, systems of MPAs are still under development, and oil and gas exploration and development is permitted within these areas.

It remains uncommon for setback distances or buffer zone requirements to be specified. Fundamentally, a firm, widespread systematic conservation plan sensu Margules and Pressey, in the deep sea will be critical in creating MPAs that are representative and effective Kark et al. They can also be networks of smaller areas that may serve as stepping stones across the seascape.

There have been numerous reviews of the theory behind these various designs e. Even when the formal MPA designation process is followed, oil and gas industrial activity may still be permissible, although their proximity typically triggers additional scrutiny of development plans Table 1. Examples of wells that have been drilled near some important marine protected areas include the Palta-1 well off the Ningaloo reef in Australia and drilling and production in the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary in the U.

Gulf of Mexico. In some cases, MPAs may not be formally declared, but sensitive habitats are explicitly avoided during field operations as part of the lease conditions. For example, in Norway, exploration drilling has occurred near the Pockmark-reefs in the Kristin oil field and the reefs of the Morvin oil field Ofstad et al. Direct physical damage was limited by ensuring the well location and anchoring points including chains were not near the known coral locations.

Similarly, in Brazil, impacts to deep-water corals must be avoided, and ROV surveys of proposed tracklines for anchors are typically conducted before or after installation. Despite the requirements of many jurisdictions to avoid deep-water petroleum activities near sensitive habitats, it remains uncommon for legally mandated setback distances or buffer zone requirements to be specified.

For example, there are no mandated separation distances of industry infrastructure and deep-water corals for both the Brazilian and Norwegian case studies, rather the need for spatial restrictions is evaluated on a case-by-case basis as part of the environmental impact assessment process.

BOEM has taken a precautionary approach and defined mitigation areas in which oil and gas activity is prohibited. These areas are determined from interpretation of seismic survey data. Previous studies have demonstrated that these seismic data can reliably predict the presence of chemosynthetic and deep-water coral communities Roberts et al.

ROV surveys of the tracklines of anchors are typically conducted, but can occur after the installation of the infrastructure if the plan is approved. However, if the well is drilled near a known high-density community or archeological site, then visual surveys are mandatory prior to installation. If the ROV surveys reveal high-density chemosynthetic or coral communities, the operator is required to report their occurrence and submit copies of the images to BOEM for review.

Avoidance measures have to be undertaken for all potential and known high-density benthic communities identified during these assessments. Beyond the borders of the BOEM mitigation areas, there are mandated set-back distances for oil and gas infrastructure in US territorial waters.

These distances are primarily based on a contracted study of impacts from deep-water structures CSA, The set-back distance for sea-surface discharges of drilling muds and cuttings was originally m, corresponding to the average distance over which impacts were detected in the CSA study. Following more recent discoveries of abundant deep-water coral communities in and near the hard-ground sites within the mitigation areas, the set-back distance was doubled to m feet.

The set-back distance for the placement of anchors and other seafloor infrastructure is m feet from the mitigation areas, but this may be reduced to 75 m feet if a waiver is requested. In addition to specific targets for avoidance or establishment of protected areas, the use of reference areas can also assist in spatial management, and in the testing of EIA predictions more generally.

Comparison of reference sites with those proximal to industry operations allows the effects of drilling and routine operations to be assessed, properly attribute any changes in the ecological communities, and further inform spatial management practice Iversen et al.

Some real-time monitoring and responsive action has also been undertaken in the benthic environment. In Norway, Statoil has monitored the potential impacts on a coral reef system at the Morvin oil field, which included sediment sampling, video observations, sensors and sediment traps Tenningen et al. The sensor data were available in real time and enabled drillers to observe if selected reef sites were being impacted by drilling activities.

Regardless of the structure of the monitoring program, some periodic post-development assessments, both within the development area and in appropriate reference areas, are required to evaluate the efficacy of the implemented protections. Deep-sea species, assemblages, and ecosystems have a set of biological and ecological attributes e. In general, deep-sea organisms are slower growing and more long lived than their shallow-water counterparts and their distributions, abundance, and species identity remain largely unknown at most locations.

The combination of their sensitivity to disturbance and the direct threat posed by industrial activity of any kind should stipulate a precautionary approach to the management of deep-sea resources.

A comprehensive management plan requires accurate environmental maps of deep-sea oil and gas production areas. These maps could be more effectively generated by creating a central archive of industry-generated acoustic remote sensing data, including seismic data and bathymetry, and making these data available to managers and scientists via open-access platforms.

Predictive habitat modeling can also contribute to the development of distribution maps for specific taxa. Baseline surveys should be carried out first at a regional level if no historical data are available. Prior to industrial activity, comprehensive surveys should be carried out within the planning area including along pipeline tracks and in a comparable reference area outside of the influence of typical impacts at least 4—5 km.

Ideally, surveys should include high-resolution mapping, seafloor imagery surveys, and physical samples to characterize the faunal community and ensure proper species identifications, which should consist of a combination of classical and molecular taxonomy. We also recommend the inclusion of newer high-throughput sequencing and metabarcoding techniques for a robust assessment of biodiversity at all size classes Pawlowski et al. International collaboration with the oil and gas industry to develop and conduct basic scientific research should be further strengthened to obtain the baseline information required for a robust understanding of the ecology of these systems and the interpretation of monitoring results, both at local and regional scales.

We recommend that representatives of all habitat types, ideally based on a strategic regional assessment, should be granted protection. Any high-density, high-biomass, high-relief, or specialized i. The definition of these significant communities will vary from region to region and will depend on national or international regulations within the region of interest, but the EBSA concept should be generally applicable. Given the likely proximity of sensitive habitats to oil and gas activities, and the potential for extremely slow centuries to millennia recovery from perturbation in deep waters, an integrated approach to conservation is warranted.

This will include spatial management in conjunction with activity management in the form of restrictions on discharge and the use of water-based drilling fluids, and temporal management in areas where industry activity is near breeding aggregations or seasonally spawning sessile organisms. Most countries have an in-principle commitment to conservation that typically extends to deep-water ecological features. However, it is rare that mandatory set-back distances from sensitive features or extensions of spatial protections are included to ensure that industrial activity does not impact the habitats designated for protection.

This is significant because these habitats, in particular deep-sea coral and cold-seep ecosystems, consist of central, high-biomass sites surrounded by transition zones that can extend at least m from the visually apparent border of the site to the background deep-sea community Demopoulos et al. Considering the inherent sources of uncertainty associated with the management of deep-sea habitats, from the imprecise placement of seafloor infrastructure, to the variability in discharge impact distances, to the uncertainty in seafloor navigation and the locations of the sensitive deep-sea habitats and species, we strongly recommend that buffer zones be incorporated into spatial management plans.

Based on what is known on distances over which impacts have been observed, we can propose a set of recommendations for appropriate buffer zones or MPA extensions from sensitive habitats Table 4. Following the Deepwater Horizon spill, impacts to the deep-sea benthos were greatest within a 3 km radius with a signal detected within a 45 km radius Montagna et al. While distances derived from the spatial footprints of large spills might offer a solid precautionary approach in regions undergoing development for the first time, they may prove impractical in most settings.

Therefore, in regions of active leasing, the focus should be on the protection of suitably large, representative areas, while still allowing for industrial activity in the area. Table 4. Recommendations for the spatial management of deep-sea ecosystems in the vicinity of oil and gas industrial activity.

The size of the buffer zones around habitats should be based on the available information on the typical distances over which impacts of standard oil and gas industry operations have been documented. Produced water travels 1—2 km on average, elevated concentrations of barium a common component of drilling muds are often detected for at least 1 km from the source, and cuttings and other surface disposed materials, along with changes to the benthic community are often observed on the seafloor at distances of up to — m.

Considering that impacts can extend to 2 km, we recommend that surface infrastructure and any discharge sites should be at least 2 km away from known EBSAs. A more conservative approach, based on the variability in water column current structure and intensity, would be to set the distance as a function of the water depth of operations, with the 2 km extent of typical impacts observed as the minimum distance.

Seafloor disturbances from direct physical impacts of anchor, anchor chain, and wire laying occur within a m radius of activities.

Therefore, based on the combination of the typical impact distance and the transition zone to the background deep-sea community, we recommend that any seafloor infrastructure without planned discharges should be placed at least m from the location of these communities. Temporal management should also be considered, particularly during discrete coral spawning events Roberts et al. Although these recommendations are based on a thorough review of available literature and the authors' extensive experience in several EEZs, the information on potential impact zones is still relatively sparse.

As a result, processes should be implemented that allow adaptive management to be implemented as more data become available. Management plans must clearly communicate quantitative conservation targets that are measurable, the set of environmental and ecological features to be protected, the levels of acceptable change, and any remedial actions required, increasing the capacity of the industry to better cost and implement compliance measures as part of their license to operate.

It is also in the best interests of scientists, managers, and industry alike to arrive at a common, global standard for deep-water environmental protection across EEZs, and it is our hope that this review represents a first step in this direction toward the integrated and comprehensive conservation of vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. EC and DJ wrote, edited and revised the text, created and edited figures and tables.

TS contributed analysis and figures and edited and revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the tables, wrote portions of the text, and edited the manuscript. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The members of the Oil and Gas working group that contributed to our discussions at that meeting or through the listserve are acknowledged for their contributions to this work. We would also like to thank the three reviewers and the editor who provided valuable comments and insight into the work presented here.

This output reflects only the authors' views and the funders cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. Ackah-Baidoo, A. Policy 37, — Ahmadun, F. Review of technologies for oil and gas produced water treatment. Anderson, C. Google Scholar. Andrews, A. Age, growth and radiometric age validation of a deep-sea, habitat-forming gorgonian Primnoa resedaeformis from the Gulf of Alaska.

Hydrobiologia , — Ardron, J. A systematic approach towards the identification and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems. Policy 49, — Arellano, S. Spawning, development, and the duration of larval life in a deep-sea cold-seep mussel.

Atchison, A. Baguley, J. Community response of deep-sea soft-sediment metazoan meiofauna to the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill. Metazoan meiofauna biomass, grazing, and weight-dependent respiration in the Northern Gulf of Mexico deep sea.

Deep Sea Res. The equipment needs to be able to withstand temperatures that can reach up to degrees Celsius at about 40, feet underground. The probability of a serious accident, fatality, injury, explosion, or fire being reported grows by 8.

The challenges posed by drilling in deeper water can also complicate measures to cope with any problems that occur. In the evening April 20th, , a series of misfortunes began to unfold after the crew aboard Deepwater Horizon installed a cement seal to the Macondo exploration well 66 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The seal meant to hold back oil and gas failed and so did two valves that were supposed to prevent the flood of oil and gas from traveling up the pipe to the surface.

They were caught off guard when drilling mud and natural gas began flowing out of the pipe and onto the rig. That failed, too. Within eight minutes of the crew seeing the leak, the natural gas sparked a massive explosion and fires that would eventually bring down the rig. When it sank, the rig ruptured the pipe that traveled between it and well below, which had been filled with drilling mud to counteract the pressure driving oil and gas upward from the Earth.

Without that counter-pressure, oil flowed from the well into the Gulf for 87 days. Several attempts at stopping the leak failed, including trying to fit a containment dome over the well that eventually filled with frozen methane and nearly floated to the surface. Finally, on July 15th, a newly developed device — called a capping stack — was able to seal off the well. The failures at Deepwater Horizon exposed how unprepared the industry was to respond to such a catastrophic event.

As the capacity to store renewable energy increases, the ability for renewables to provide a consistent base load of electricity to the grid will as well. There are serious environmental impacts associated with each stage of offshore drilling.

While some impacts may not be as visible, there are a myriad of consequences that local communities and elected officials must know about before considering new oil drilling.

As the Surfrider Foundation is concerned about the environmental ramifications of drilling, we have chosen to highlight the most harmful impacts for this article. Offshore drilling requires onshore infrastructure which disrupts the natural environment. The potential of catastrophic oil spills, continued contribution to climate change, and the eyesore of an industrialized coastline, could do significant harm to coastal communities and surrounding regions.

In fact, ocean tourism and recreation provides 12 times the amount of jobs than the offshore oil industry. For background, the report defines ocean economy as "ocean resources that have a direct or indirect input of goods and services to an economic activity". In addition to impacting tourism and recreation, drilling can disrupt fishing industries.

Seismic surveys , oil rig construction, spills, and drilling muds may displace fishermen. The fishing industry is another pillar in our U. The Deepwater Horizon disaster provides a prime example of the devastating long term impacts and economic costs of an oil spill.

The draft plan would allocate funds from the settlement for restoration over the next 15 years. That draft plan, and information on the proposed settlement with BP called the Consent Decree , can be found here.