The everglades, a region of approximately 1,900 square kilometres of sawgrass prairie in the southern tip of Florida, is a World Heritage Site. Sawgrass is a type of wild sedge that grows naturally all over the world, particularly in tropical and temperate regions. World Heritage Sites are those places that the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizaton deems to be of special cultural or physical significance. Despite the state not being the first place you think about in terms of oil exploration, companies are drilling in Florida. The scientific name for sawgrass is Cladium.
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 economic viability of any oil play is directly related to the price of oil. When prices are high, is worth the risk to spend the cash to extract smaller amounts. Conversely, when prices are low, it is less profitable to invest in resources needed to get the oil out. It's not rocket science, is it.
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.
In 2014, the Miami Herald reported that there were around half a dozen oil and gas E&P companies that spent millions on plans to explore Southwest Florida. At that time, oil prices were high. Two years later, the price of oil was low and the dollar was sagging in value compared to other currencies like British Sterling. This gave the industry some breathing space and allowed the environmentalists time to regroup.
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 economic viability of any oil play is directly related to the price of oil. When prices are high, is worth the risk to spend the cash to extract smaller amounts. Conversely, when prices are low, it is less profitable to invest in resources needed to get the oil out. It's not rocket science, is it.
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.
In 2014, the Miami Herald reported that there were around half a dozen oil and gas E&P companies that spent millions on plans to explore Southwest Florida. At that time, oil prices were high. Two years later, the price of oil was low and the dollar was sagging in value compared to other currencies like British Sterling. This gave the industry some breathing space and allowed the environmentalists time to regroup.
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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