Benefits of Offshore Drilling
Many people think that offshore drilling only causes environmental problems, but it also has various benefits. In fact, offshore drilling assists in creating jobs, enhancing the local economy and many other benefits. It is important to note that most oil spills take place during oil transportation and not while drilling, even though there are certain exceptions. The following are advantages of offshore drilling.
1. Creates employment opportunities
Offshore drilling offers many secondary and primary employment opportunities. Primary employees are the ones who are working on the drill itself and include laborers, specialized technicians, doctors, cooks, scientists as well as numerous other specialized employees. In addition, secondary jobs are also created and assist in supporting the oil drill. Examples of these secondary jobs include the food distributors responsible for supplying workers and other mechanical distributors who supply mechanical hardware.
2. Enhances local economy
Since offshore drill keeps a large number of the population working, it helps to support the local economy. Once the economy improves, the infrastructure also improves greatly. People will now be capable of enhancing their livelihoods because they now have a stable source of income.
3. Benefits the environment
A surprising offshore drilling benefit is that it also benefits the environment, especially if no accidents occur during drilling. Offshore drills are huge structures found in the ocean, which attracts different varieties of aquatic life. Birds, fish and other marine life come near the drills and start living there. It acts like a vital artificial reef helping life flourish because most sea creatures use it to breed.
4. Provides domestic oil
Offshore drilling assists America to harvest rich oil deposits that are found on its domestic oil and thus reduces over reliance on foreign suppliers. This action also benefits the people since it translates to reduced fuel prices.
One demerit of offshore drilling is that it can easily cause huge environment problems, particularly when oil spills and kills sea creatures.
