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In the southern tip of Florida lies nearly 2 megametres of fragile ecosystem called the Everglades. This unique territory is a World Heritage Site and consists mostly of prairies of sawgrass. World Heritage Sites are those that UNESCO has determined are of significant scientific or cultural importance. Sawgress, or Cladium, is a variety of natural sedge that grows all over the planet, but especially in temperate and tropical areas. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Oil prospectors have been sniffing around the Everglades for its potential for drilling in Florida.
Prospecting for hydrocarbons in the Sunshine State is nothing new. The first two test wells were drilled by Humble Oil Company in 1943. One was 1,620 feet deep and the other 1,720 feet deep. Neither well was deemed to be worth pursuing so they were both abandoned to their 15 minutes of fame.
The appetite for exploring for oil in the Everglades is directly proportional to the price of oil. When the price is high, prospectors are willing to take bigger risks boring previously uneconomic reserves. When they are low, there is less interest.
Low oil prices are a mixed blessing. The good news is that there is less pressure to drill in environmentally delicate areas, such as the Everglades. The down side of cheap oil is that people tend to use it faster. Just because it is cheap does not mean it is more plentiful than it is when prices are high. It is and always has been in finite supply. Racing through it just means it will run out that much sooner.
Oil producing countries are a bit like drug dealers in that respect. Once we get a taste for cheap oil, our demands will increase. That is when they will start jacking up prices. Eventually, unless we have been investing and developing viable alternative energy supplies, we will have to find new uses for our tablets and toasters.
Vast reserves of previously unattainable gas and oil are opening up thanks to technological advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of tight-fisted shale rock formations. The largest plays are in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, although Florida is among the other states with supplies whose economic viability is ethereal and depends on the prevailing price of oil.
When oil prices are high, as they were in 2014, companies spent tens of millions of dollars preparing to explore the Everglades, as reported by the Miami Herald. Within two years, however, the price of oil nosedived, the dollar tanked and interest waned in drilling in the Sunshine State. This relieved pressure to produce and gave the environmental lobby time to consolidate its position.
Sooner or later, whether we like it or not, whether the price of oil is high or low, it is going to run out. Decimating sites of beauty and significance may delay that time. We have to decide whether it is worth it to destroy vast swathes of priceless, irreplaceable, delicate ecosystems to gain a few more years of cheap and accessible power.
Prospecting for hydrocarbons in the Sunshine State is nothing new. The first two test wells were drilled by Humble Oil Company in 1943. One was 1,620 feet deep and the other 1,720 feet deep. Neither well was deemed to be worth pursuing so they were both abandoned to their 15 minutes of fame.
The appetite for exploring for oil in the Everglades is directly proportional to the price of oil. When the price is high, prospectors are willing to take bigger risks boring previously uneconomic reserves. When they are low, there is less interest.
Low oil prices are a mixed blessing. The good news is that there is less pressure to drill in environmentally delicate areas, such as the Everglades. The down side of cheap oil is that people tend to use it faster. Just because it is cheap does not mean it is more plentiful than it is when prices are high. It is and always has been in finite supply. Racing through it just means it will run out that much sooner.
Oil producing countries are a bit like drug dealers in that respect. Once we get a taste for cheap oil, our demands will increase. That is when they will start jacking up prices. Eventually, unless we have been investing and developing viable alternative energy supplies, we will have to find new uses for our tablets and toasters.
Vast reserves of previously unattainable gas and oil are opening up thanks to technological advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of tight-fisted shale rock formations. The largest plays are in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, although Florida is among the other states with supplies whose economic viability is ethereal and depends on the prevailing price of oil.
When oil prices are high, as they were in 2014, companies spent tens of millions of dollars preparing to explore the Everglades, as reported by the Miami Herald. Within two years, however, the price of oil nosedived, the dollar tanked and interest waned in drilling in the Sunshine State. This relieved pressure to produce and gave the environmental lobby time to consolidate its position.
Sooner or later, whether we like it or not, whether the price of oil is high or low, it is going to run out. Decimating sites of beauty and significance may delay that time. We have to decide whether it is worth it to destroy vast swathes of priceless, irreplaceable, delicate ecosystems to gain a few more years of cheap and accessible power.
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