Random Post––Oil Rigs

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This weekend I went camping at a place called Carpinteria just south of Santa Barbara. While walking on the beach you can see a large number of oil rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel. These ugly steel structures have a very strong impact on the view from the beach. Nevertheless, I was instantly fascinated by them––I had never seen such structures in my life, and now I was able to see several of them. I realized that I don't really know anything about oil rigs––that is why I chose to do some research.
View from the Carpinteria state park
Oil platforms are indeed very interesting: they are some of the tallest buildings built by humans. Before the Burj Khalifa was constructed, an oil rig was the tallest freestanding structure with a total hight of 609 meters (for Americans: 2001 feet). These constructs are huge technical achievements. Thousands of people work hard to build them and these platforms are doing a major service to our society––nearly 30% of our crude oil production comes from off-shore drilling. Even if fossil fuels as an energy form are slowly getting out of fashion, they make up a significant part of our daily energy consumption. Most of the cars still need gas to operate and our electricity has to be generated. In 2017, 80% of the energy used in the US came from different sources of fossil fuels. As I was taking the picture above, my camera might have used some of the energy that was extracted from those towers. (Eia)

In the Santa Barbara channel there are many offshore oil platforms, but their number is decreasing. Most of the platforms were built in the 60s and 70s, shortly after the oil-field was discovered in 1964. Major oil-spills are shifting the public opinion against such operations. For example, in 2015 an underwater pipeline burst in the Santa Barbara channel. The leak emitted 142,000 gallons of crude oil in the ocean. A large number of animals died as a direct consequence of the spill and millions in damages were caused. Already in 1994, there has been a ban on new off-shore drilling in all state waters in California (within 3 miles from the coast). In addition, there are plans to limit the production in federal waters as well. These are small steps towards a sustainable future––maybe our children won't have these ugly platforms in their pictures. (Rogers)



Works Cited

Rogers, Paul. “First California Offshore Oil Platform in 20 Years to Be Removed.” The Mercury News, The Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2017, www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/17/first-california-offshore-oil-platform-to-be-removed-in-20-years/.

“US Energy Facts Explained.” Factors Affecting Gasoline Prices - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration, May 2018, www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=us_energy_home.


Comments

  1. Anonymous18 February 2019 at 17:34

    I like your paragraph about Santa Barbara because I can relate to it. My friend lives on the beach there and we can see an oil rig in the distance from her balcony. When you go down to the beach, you're likely to get tar all over your feet (and it does not come off easily). I did a quick search and found that the tar is actually the result of natural seepage from underground oil deposits, and not from the oil rigs.
    -Diana Zhao

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lorenzo Montini18 February 2019 at 19:51

    I'm used at seeing oil rigs off shore because they are present also in the Mare Adriatico in Italy. By the way, I didn't know that oil rigs are such tall buildings. Actually I'm wondering how humans could build a 600-metre-tall building under water!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie Francel19 February 2019 at 10:21

    That’s funny, I’ve lived in California and gone to the beach every year for my whole life, and yet I’ve never given these guys a second look. They’re just a part of the ocean! Haha. Very interesting history. I’m glad I’m more informed on this topic now :)
    -KT

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown19 February 2019 at 16:23

    This is really interesting! I had no idea the tallest structures at one point were oil-rigs. This was a cool post!

    -Brendan Graniez

    ReplyDelete

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