One manifestation of how we are now chasing the dregs of the world’s oil is the increasingly dangerous and expensive places and ways we are going after the stuff. The latest explosion on a Gulf Coast oil rig is a demonstration of some of the dangers.
Meanwhile, we should be expecting more leaks and spills, including in places where help is a long way off. For improved understanding of part of what that involves, there is a series from Deep Sea News that may be worth a look:
- How effective are dispersants on real oil spills?
- How toxic are dispersants?
- Do dispersants really promote degradation of oil?
Oil dependence is all about transportation – the fuels used for electricity and industry are largely oil and gas. As such, the medium- to long-term solution to all the problems associated with offshore drilling is to reduce the global demand for oil with some combination of investments in alternative forms of transport, pricing to reduce consumption, and complementary policies.
Explosion on Mariner Energy oil rig in Gulf of Mexico
An explosion has torn through an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of a blast in April which caused a huge oil spill.
All 13 crew on the rig, operated by Marine Energy, escaped into the water and were later rescued.
The US Coast Guard said a blaze burned for hours after the explosion but had now been extinguished.
Officials said there was no evidence of an oil leak, despite earlier reports of a mile-long sheen on the ocean.
But the incident has led to criticism that lessons were not learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in April.