Uh-oh: BP discovers deep-water oil

September 2nd, 2009

Photo via Flickr: Jurvetson

From today’s New York Times:

The British oil giant, BP, announced on Wednesday the discovery of what it characterized as a “giant” oil field more than six miles under the Gulf of Mexico, but it may take years to assess how much crude can actually be recovered.

…It is part of a new frontier of exploration where oil companies are spending billions of dollars to find oil off the shores of Brazil and West Africa and boring through miles of rock, salt, and packed sands.

The discoveries have been made possible by leaps in development of offshore drilling technology, computers, and three-dimensional imaging that can pinpoint where the best reserves lie, and advanced mooring equipment to stabilize platforms in deep waters.

I’m hoping that by the time the hypocritically named Beyond Petroleum begins to extract the oil — estimated to be at least three years from now — we’ll be zipping around in our algae-powered cars of the future. I just don’t get it: If gazillions of dollars have been devoted to developing technology that can drill farther under the ocean than the height of Mount Everest (tantamount to exploring outer space), for a substance that will only continue to pollute the planet and increase global warming, why in God’s name can’t we commit the same funding and brainpower to creating sustainable fuels?

That’s where the real money will be, anyway. This is just a desperate last attempt by an industry that’s chosen to bury its head in the proverbial oil sand for far too long.

For the full story, click here.

–Jennifer Grayson

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