Offshore oil drilling industry is immense. As oil is the prior source of energy worldwide, its supply is crucial. And offshore drilling provides a huge part of the oil which is both used domestically and exported. For example, offshore oil from the Gulf of Mexico makes up 30 percent of the oil mined in the US. The industry involves thousands of workers who earn above average wages. The whole nation collects huge revenue paid by drilling companies in form of taxes. After all, the whole world depends on the supply of oil as it determines prices and relations at the market. Nevertheless, drilling companies are frequently accused of the massive environmental damage caused by drilling. But is it potent enough to ban offshore drilling?
Oil spillage into the sea regularly happens where the drilling industry works. Enormous coastal areas become uninhabited because of the vast pollution. Oil spillage affects ecosystems in general, but it is especially dangerous for populations of fish and animal species living there. Species on the verge of extinction vanish and entire fish stocks die out. Oil pollution makes a serious damage which is likely to devastate coastal population which lived and survived due to fish trade. Local economies can be destroyed by a single failure which, to be honest, is a predictable one.
The whole industry of offshore drilling has been proven to be unsafe. There are irresponsible companies which do not install safety equipment and inevitably spill the oil into the environment. On the other side, responsible companies do not make this picture any better – massive and expensive safety equipment did not work out in the case with Transocean international drilling provider. Consequently, some countries just get lucky while others experience yet another blowout. Despite the impossibility of taking control over the disaster, offshore drilling is one of the main means of the energy supply unless the economies do not change to the renewables.