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• Offshore drilling is the drilling and extraction of oil or natural gas from underground deposits under an ocean or other large, natural body of water.

  A U.S. Appeals court stopped drilling in Alaska in April 2009 on leases that had previously been approved by the Bush Administration, stating the the environmental impact of the leases had not been fully reviewed.U.S. Appeals Court: Case No. 07-1247 (April 18, 2009)

  In February 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar had announced that the Obama Administration will be shelving the Bush-era plan to allow new drilling off US coasts while it prepared a comprehensive report of the energy potential of the outer continental shelf, which included wind and water.MSNBC.com: Bush-era offshore drilling plan is set aside (February 10, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Process patented patented by T.F. Rowland in 1869NaturalGas.org: Offshore Drilling
  2. The first well was drilled in 1947, in the Gulf of MexicoNaturalGas.org: Offshore Drilling
  3. In 1982, Congress prohibited oil and gas leasing on the outer continental shelfThe New York Times: Bush Will Seek to End Offshore Oil Drilling Ban(June 18, 2008)
  4. President George H. W. Bush banned offshore drilling in 1990The New York Times: Bush Will Seek to End Offshore Oil Drilling Ban(June 18, 2008)
  5. President George W. Bush lifted his father's ban on July 14, 2008
  6. Approximately 172 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico produce 79% of the oil and 72% of the natural gas that is drilled off the U.S. coastsUSA Today: Worth the Risk? (July 14, 2008)
  7. Louisiana receives about $1.5 billion annually in oil and gas revenue from offshore drillingUSA Today: Worth the Risk? (July 14, 2008)
  8. Environmentalists oppose offshore drilling due to the risk of spills as well as the accompanying infrastructure which can disrupt coastal ecosystemsUSA Today: Worth the Risk? (July 14, 2008)
  9. Southern California hosts 26 oil and gas drilling platforms and 1,500 active wellsUSA Today: Worth the Risk? (July 14, 2008)
  10. A 1969 oil spill of 3.4 million gallons off the coast of Santa Barbara affected 800 square miles of ocean and 35 miles of shoreline

• Brazil's Tupi Oilfield

  Brazil is one of world's major oil producing nations. The oil is difficult to reach as it lies deep beneath Brazil's Santos basin. To extract it, Brazil's Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, will have to delve through 2,140 meters of water then drill through 3,000 to 4,000 meters of sand and rocks and a 2,000-meter-thick salt layer.

• Quotes

  "One of the factors driving up high gas prices is that many of our oil deposits here in the United States have been put off-limits for exploration and production. Past efforts to meet the demand for oil by expanding domestic resources have been repeatedly rejected by Democrats in Congress."-President George W. BushCBS News: Bush To Lift Ban On Offshore Drilling (July 14, 2008)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Aaron Tippin | Sean Hannity | Newt Gingrich | Drill Here, Drill Now

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Arctic National Wildlife Refuge | Price of Oil | Environmental Protection Agency | Climate Change | Peak Oil

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