Offshore Oil Drilling

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Overview of Offshore Oil Drilling

The Surfrider Foundation is opposed to offshore oil drilling in new areas. Our nation’s ocean, waves and beaches are vital recreational, economic and ecological treasures that will be polluted by an expansion of offshore oil drilling. Instead of advocating for transient and environmentally harmful ways to meet America’s energy needs, we should seek a comprehensive and environmentally sustainable energy plan that includes energy conservation. Offshore oil drilling and oil spills critically impact already stressed marine ecosystems and lead to the industrialization of our coastlines. While there are numerous environmental problems associated with oil drilling, there are also negative economic impacts that we simply cannot afford. This article is intended to outline potential impacts of offshore oil drilling and dispel myths that have been put forth by oil drilling proponents.


For decades, U.S. coastlines were protected from expanded offshore oil drilling by a federal moratorium that enjoyed bipartisan support. Unfortunately, in 2008, President George W. Bush lifted the White House moratorium, and Congress followed suit by allowing a federal ban on new drilling to expire. In 2016, the Obama administration finalized a 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022 that protected the Atlantic, Pacific, Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Arctic from new offshore drilling lease sales. This decision was informed by years of scientific assessment and public input, and lauded as a major victory for the ocean environment and coastal communities.

The offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon burns in the Gulf of Mexico in April, 2010.











However, in 2018, the Trump administration announced plans to revise the 5-Year Leasing Program and expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean, as part of the America-First Offshore Energy Strategy. The drastic Draft Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024 attempted to open over 90% of the Outer Continental Shelf to new drilling and put our nation’s coastal communities, beaches, surf breaks and marine ecosystems at risk of a catastrophic oil spill. A summary of estimated impacts from the draft plan's expansion of drilling are provided by Center for American Progress, and include an addition of 46 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and increase the frequency of large spills by roughly 10 times. Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of citizens, Surfrider members and coalition partners across the US made their voice heard, opposing this dangerous plan, resulting in Trump and the Department of the Interior pausing this effort indefinitely.


In 2022, the Biden administration relaunched the 5-year offshore drilling planning process for 2023 to 2028. In late 2023, the Department of Interior finalized the new 5-Year Offshore Drilling Plan, which includes three new lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and expands oil and gas drilling across hundreds of thousands of acres of previously undeveloped U.S. waters. The map below shows the proposed final three lease sales in GOM Program Area (which contains the Western GOM Planning Area, most of the Central GOM Planning Area, and a small portion of the Eastern GOM Planning Area).

Map from BOEM.


The execution of the Biden Administration’s 5-year leasing plan includes the development of an Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease. This agreement gives a company the right to explore for, develop, and produce oil, gas, and other resources in a specific area. It is comprised of five sequential phases: geophysical exploration, exploratory drilling, development, production, and decommissioning.[1] The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement considered the following alternatives:

  • No Action Alternative (No Leasing). This alternative consists of approval of a 2024–2029 Program that does not schedule any lease sales.
  • 6 Planning Areas. This alternative comprises the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, Cook Inlet, Western GOM, Central GOM, and Eastern GOM Planning Areas. This alternative was the selected as the Final Proposal presented in the PFP.
  • 9 Planning Areas. This alternative consists of Alternative B plus the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Southern California Planning Areas.
  • 25 Planning Areas. This alternative includes 25 of the 26 OCS planning areas.


The Final Proposed Program (PFP) was approved in December, 2023, and included the three GOM planning areas, with one sale scheduled each in 2025, 2027, and 2029.[2]


The increased oil and gas operations make it more difficult to reach federal climate goals, especially because the Gulf already has 1,862 oil platforms.[3] This includes the U.S. commitment under the Paris Agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015) and net-zero emissions by 2050 plan.[2] However, these goals are less achievable because of the emissions from burning fossil fuels extracted from federal lands and waters, which account for almost 25 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions also impact the communities that are exposed to oil and gas drilling, refineries, petrochemical plants, and other facilities that surround the coast of Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi.[4] The communities that are disproportionately impacted are lower-income and communities of color.[5]


Although the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act requires the implementation of offshore wind turbines in addition to the leasing of offshore oil sites,[4] the impact of the new increased oil production, extraction, and usage immensely outweighs its stated benefits. On the other hand, energy conservation is the most economical and environmental way to achieve energy independence from fossil fuels. Riding mass transit, increasing auto efficiency, improving building insulation, and better management of electrical use in homes/businesses, are just a few ways we can reduce our oil and energy consumption. Conservation is much cheaper and healthier than investing in further development of dwindling offshore oil reserves. Additionally, technological advances in renewable sources have substantially reduced the cost of wind and solar energy production. As the capacity to store renewable energy increases, the ability for renewables to provide a consistent base load of electricity to the grid will as well.


Environmental Impacts

There are serious environmental impacts associated with each stage of offshore drilling. While some impacts may not be as visible, there are a myriad of consequences that local communities and elected officials must know about before considering new oil drilling. As the Surfrider Foundation is concerned about the environmental ramifications of drilling, we have chosen to highlight the most harmful impacts for this article.

  • Oil Exploration—Seismic Surveys: Seismic surveys, also referred to as ‘air gun blasting’, are conducted to locate and estimate the size of an offshore oil reserve. In order to conduct surveys, ships use ‘airgun arrays’ to emit high-decibel explosive impulses to map the seafloor. The noise from seismic surveys can damage or kill marine life. High decibels are known to reduce the presence of zooplankton, impair fish eggs and larvae, and temporarily if not permanently deafen adult and juvenile fish and marine mammals. Without the ability to hear, fish and marine mammals struggle to communicate, navigate, avoid predators, and locate prey. These disturbances can also disrupt important migratory patterns, forcing marine life away from suitable habitats meant for foraging and mating. In addition, seismic surveys have been implicated in whale beaching and stranding incidents.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] In 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on proposed seismic surveying in the Atlantic, and estimated that 28.5 million marine animals would be disrupted.[11]
  • Drilling and Processing Oil-Drilling Muds: The process of drilling releases thousands of gallons of polluted water (2,700 tonnes), known as “drilling muds”. These muds contain toxic substances like benzene, zinc, arsenic, radioactive materials, and other contaminants used to lubricate drill bits and maintain pressure. Pending the level of toxicity, these muds are legally allowed to be released back into the marine environment.[12] High concentrations of metals have been found around drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.[13]
  • Drilling and Processing Oil-Air Pollution: In 2021, over 35,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 30,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were released from offshore oil platforms in the Outer Continental Shelf.[14] NOx and VOC’s can directly harm human health, and cause water quality deterioration, smog, contribute to climate change, and more.[15] Additionally, a 2019 study found that offshore oil and gas platforms in the North Sea were releasing twice as much methane than was reported, with a median release of 6.8 g of methane per second per offshore platform.[16] Air pollution is also a problem at oil refineries, especially in California, where the refining of lower quality oil emits 37% more greenhouse gas emissions than higher quality, light crude oil from Texas.
  • Oil Spills: Oil spills are an unavoidable part of offshore oil drilling. Each year, about 880,000 gallons of oil are sent to the ocean from North American offshore oil drilling platforms, and that’s just during normal operations.[12] Natural disasters can also prompt spills. When Hurricane Katrina whipped through the Gulf of Mexico, she destroyed over 100 platforms and caused the release of 8 million gallons of oil, the largest spill in the U.S. since the Exxon Valdez. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan also damaged platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering an oil spill that is still spewing oil today! The “Taylor spill” has been leaking 300 to 700 barrels of oil every day before a containment system was installed, and the site continues to leak oil into the open ocean to this day.[17]
As demonstrated by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, oil spills have the potential to irreparably damage entire ecosystems. BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill released approximately 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, fouling beaches and coastal wetlands from Louisiana to Florida; killing birds, fish, and marine mammals; and devastating the recreation and fishing-based coastal economies of the Gulf States.[18] [19] Oil spills can also take many years to clean up. The Gulf of Mexico ecosystem was still in crisis more than three years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Nearly five years after Deepwater Horizon a study estimated that 6 to 10 million gallons of oil remain submerged at the bottom of the Gulf.[20] Another study published in May 2015 identified lung and adrenal lesions consistent with petroleum product exposure in several deceased bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins had been stranded in the northern Gulf of Mexico since the start of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[21] The Center for Biological Diversity estimated that 114,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were killed or injured as a result of Deepwater Horizon.[22] For a perspective by Surfrider Foundation seven years after the spill, see here. Nearly 16 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska, about 90 tons of oil still remained in shoreline soils and will stay there for decades. [23] There's also the issue of toxic chemical dispersants used during oil spill response and clean ups. Learn more about chemical dispersants in this 2019 report by the National Academy of Sciences.
Oil Slick from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The photo was taken five days after the explosion on the rig.
Sadly, offshore oil drilling associated spills take place on a consistent basis, just check out NOAA's Incident Map, which shows the most recent oil incident reports. Nationwide, there have been 725 offshore related oil spills between 2001 and 2015, resulting in 207.4 million gallons of oil tarnishing our coastlines.[24] From 1995 to 2010, the U.S. Mineral Management Service recorded almost 500 spills in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean (including spills of toxic chemicals related to drilling). Since 1969, there have been at least 48 large oil spills (over 10,000 barrels of oil each) in our nation’s marine waterways. This means that we can expect a spill of over 10,000 barrels, or 420,000 gallons, of oil every 13 months.
Map from NOAA.
Tesoro Corporation's Anacortes Refinery on the shore of Puget Sound in Washington state.
  • Onshore Environmental Impacts: Oil production requires massive onshore infrastructure for transportation, storage, processing, and delivery. As such, local communities can experience onshore environmental problems because of offshore drilling. To transport oil to processing plants, pipelines and roads are often built through coastal wetlands and beaches, causing severe rates in the loss of habitat functionality and acreage. Local communities are directly impacted by the reduction in habitat, as it results in the loss of “ecosystem services,” including protection from shore break and sea level rise, water purification, shoreline stabilization, and habitat for coastal and marine wildlife that may be crucial for industries reliant on tourism and recreation. As such, the oil industry externalizes the costs of air, water and land pollution at the expense of our environment and tourism.
  • Environmental Justice: offshore drilling disproportionately impacts lower-income and communities of color. Oil refineries pollute frontline communities with carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and toxic particulates that damage public health. Related petrochemical facilities in Louisiana's Mississippi River Basin, an area notoriously referred to as “Cancer Alley”, release a cocktail of toxic pollution in local communities through the production of plastics. Meanwhile, the oil industry has contributed to the extensive loss of coastal wetlands, leaving Gulf communities more vulnerable to flooding and extreme weather events.


Economic Impacts

Before scrutinizing ‘oil drilling myths,’ it’s important to examine economic arguments that prove our coastal communities are the mainstay of the U.S. economy and will undoubtedly suffer if new drilling occurs. The potential of catastrophic oil spills, continued contribution to climate change, and the eyesore of an industrialized coastline, could do significant harm to coastal communities and surrounding regions.

The National Ocean Economics Program reports on the importance of economic contributions from coastal states. Additionally, the ocean economy’s tourism and recreation industry contributes 2.5 million jobs to the U.S. economy, and leisure and hospitality in coastal counties contributes 6.9 million jobs.[25] In fact, ocean tourism and recreation provides 14 times the amount of jobs than the offshore oil industry.[26] In the event of a spill, the tourism and recreation industry is likely to experience severe economic damages, threatening the health and livelihood of coastal populations, and due to the nation’s reliance on coastal areas, the U.S. economy as a whole. For background, the report defines ocean economy as "ocean resources that have a direct or indirect input of goods and services to an economic activity".[27]

Data from NOEP

Table 1. Value Added by Coastal/Ocean Tourism and Recreation Related Industries.

Annual GDP contributions (in $US billion) of the coastal economy's leisure and hospitality industry, and the ocean economy's recreation and tourism industry in 2019 for select states and nationwide.


In addition to impacting tourism and recreation, drilling can disrupt fishing industries. Seismic surveys, oil rig construction, spills, and drilling muds may displace fishermen. The fishing industry is another pillar in our U.S. economy that we cannot afford to jeopardize.

Fishing Generated Income Impacts in 2017 (US Dollars, Millions).png

Table 2. Fishing Generated Income Impacts in 2015.

Annual economic impacts (in $US million) from seafood industry expenditures by US region in 2017.


Additional information on the ocean and coastal economic sectors in specific U.S. territories can be found on the National Ocean Economics Program and Economics: National Ocean Watch data set.


Long Term Clean Up Costs After a Spill

The Deepwater Horizon disaster provides a prime example of the devastating long term impacts and economic costs of an oil spill. In 2015 the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council ("Trustees") proposed to accept a settlement with BP to resolve BP’s liability for natural resource injuries from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Under this settlement, BP would pay up to $8.8 billion for restoration. Based on the Trustees' assessment of impacts to the Gulf’s natural resources, they determined that the best method for addressing the injuries is a comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem restoration plan. The draft plan would allocate funds from the settlement for restoration over the next 15 years. That draft plan, and information on the proposed settlement with BP (called the Consent Decree), can be found here.


Facts vs. Fiction


MYTH: Offshore drilling will spur economic opportunities for industry, states, and local communities to create jobs.

REALITY: Offshore oil and gas development could actually harm industries that depend on a healthy coast and ocean, and provide more jobs and income to local economies. This is most notable in the Gulf of Mexico, where for every state besides Texas, the ocean-dependent sectors of tourism, recreation and fishing provide the largest employment contributions.[27]

EconContributions FishTourismRec GOM.png

The current ocean tourism and recreation industry provides 14 times the amount of jobs than the offshore oil industry.[28] Additionally, a 2015 economic analysis found that the development of offshore wind would provide more new jobs (an estimated 83,000 more jobs by 2030)[29] and produce thirty percent more energy when compared to the development of offshore oil.[30] Alternative offshore energy developments might actually provide more benefits to “industry, states, and local communities” through greater employment opportunities and cleaner energy production.



MYTH: Expanding offshore drilling will stimulate homegrown energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

REALITY: Many people are surprised to find out that the U.S. is both the largest consumer and producer of oil in the world! And even though the U.S. consumes more oil than it produces, the nation actually exports oil. This means that the U.S. currently has “homegrown” oil that it would rather export to other countries, in exchange for importing heavier foreign oil. Since it’s both quantity and quality driving the imports, there is no reason to expect new offshore oil drilling to cause this “reliance on foreign oil” to change.

The U.S. produces 21.691 million barrels of petroleum every day[31] (23% of the world’s production),[32] and though it consumes 20.01 million barrels of petroleum every day (20% of the world’s consumption),[33] the U.S. imported 8.33 million barrels every day in 2022.[34] This means that the nation not only imported the oil necessary to meet demand, but it imported extra in order to swap out 10 million barrels daily of U.S. produced petroleum because of the quality.[35] The reason? U.S. oil refineries were designed to process heavy oil, but the oil produced in the U.S. is mainly light, so to save the oil industry money by avoiding refinery updates, U.S. oil giants actually export some the higher quality light oil in exchange for importing the heavier, dirtier oil (heavier oil releases more pollutants like NOx and VOCs during processing).[36]

Finally, the U.S. is currently experiencing its lowest dependence on oil in a long time, as net imports are at a 30-year low,[37] importing 40% of the total US consumption.[34] If we focus on reducing our consumption and investing in renewable storage capacity, instead of increasing national oil production, we can reduce this dependence even more.



MYTH: Offshore drilling will help us ensure our nation’s long-term energy needs.

REALITY: Even under the best-case scenario, America’s offshore oil reserves in the Atlantic and Pacific would provide us only 721 days, or about 24 months supply of oil at our current rate of consumption.[38] A recent study conducted by Surfrider staff used BOEM technically recoverable offshore oil estimates[38] and US Energy Administration[31] on national daily oil consumption to quantify the following estimates by region. These findings are supported by a similar analysis[39] showing that new drilling will not significantly help long-term energy needs. Two years of oil is not worth risking the future health of our marine environments and coastal economies for decades to come.

  • The North, South, and Mid-Atlantic region contain a small amount of oil. At 2021 usage and recent prices, the region contains about 4.31 billion barrels of oil,[38] which would supply the nation with oil for 215 days (about 7 months).[40]
  • In California, at recent prices and usage, there is an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil off California’s coastline,[41] which would supply the nation with 497 days of oil (16.5 months).[40]
  • In the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon only have a minuscule amount of oil, 0.4 billion barrels,[42] and would supply the nation with 19 days of oil.[40]
  • In the Gulf of Mexico, there is an estimated 29.59 billion barrels of oil,[38] which would only supply the nation with about 1,479 days (4 years).[40]



The result of a boat striking an inactive wellhead (US Coast Guard via gCaptain)

MYTH: Advances in drilling technology have made offshore drilling “safer”

REALITY: New technology is far from safe as proven by numerous recent spills. The EPA estimates that 70 oil spills still occur every day in the country.[43] An example of a major spill was when more than 1,572 barrels of oil spilled off Newfoundland, Canada in November 2018, in an area of the North Atlantic where wave action remains too dense for cleanup still, three days after the spill. Back in 2009, off the coast of Australia, a rig using “state of the art” technology flaunted by oil companies, blew and spilled somewhere between 400 barrels (oil company estimate) and 2,000 barrels per day (Australia Department of Resources estimate), for over two months. From 1995 to 2010, the U.S. Mineral Management Service recorded almost 500 spills in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean (including spills of toxic chemicals related to drilling). In November 2023, over a million gallons of crude oil were spilled in the Gulf of Mexico,[44] yet there are still plans to expand offshore oil production in this region.

Oil drilling proponents claim that “subsea drilling” can be done safely and out of sight. However, an investigative report exposed that subsea drilling installations are almost entirely used in depths greater than 5,000 feet.[45] Waters in the Atlantic and Pacific are only a few hundred feet deep. For example, certain areas of the Pacific OCS are estimated at 650 feet.[46] Most waters off the coast of Florida run no deeper than 100 feet.[45]

Finally, in the wake of storms with unprecedented strength due to climate change, how can we be so sure that new rigs will be able to withstand winds and storm surge associated with another Hurricane Irma-like storm, or worse? We already know that current platforms are not safe in the face of powerful storms. This was illustrated in the Gulf of Mexico when Hurricane Ivan, Katrina and Rita damaged a combined total of over 113 platforms, 457 pipelines, and spilled roughly 750,000 gallons of oil.[47] One such rig damaged during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, has been leaking oil for the past fourteen years! Even today, the Taylor Spill continues to spew up to 700 barrels of oil into the waters off of Louisiana every single day before a containment system was installed and continues to leak to this day.[48]



MYTH: Offshore oil drilling reduces the harmful pollution caused by natural tar seepage

REALITY: This is a common myth promoted by the oil industry. The environmental risks and damage caused by offshore oil and gas development far outweigh any potential environmental benefits of reduced natural tar seepage. Natural seepage of tar is in no way comparable to the impacts and risks of human offshore oil and gas development, which include direct harm to marine mammals during exploration, frequent oil spills, release of toxic drilling muds, a potential catastrophic oil spill, and extensive onshore habitat loss for the construction and operation of support structures. Though the amount of natural tar seepage can be surprisingly high, this seepage happens slowly, allowing the natural ecosystem to “adapt or even thrive in the tar’s presence”.[12]



MYTH: Potential economic benefits of offshore drilling “outweigh the risks”.

REALITY: In most instances, risk assessments of offshore drilling fail to take into consideration the economic risk to our beaches and coastlines. As discussed above, our coastlines are single-handedly the biggest revenue generators for the U.S. economy. Our nation’s ocean, waves and beaches are vital recreational, economic and ecological treasures that will be polluted by an increase in offshore oil drilling.

Why bother with such risk? Images of oiled marine life, soiled coastlines, and massive oil slicks have been permanently etched into our hearts and minds over the years. America needs to conserve energy, protect our natural resources, and look for innovative ways to build a sustainable ‘energy portfolio.’ Offshore oil drilling is simply not the answer.



Learn More and Take Action

Surfrider’s Protect U.S. Waters from Offshore Drilling campaign

Surfrider’s Ocean Protection Blog 



References

  1. ↑ BOEM. (2023). 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 BOEM. (2023). National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
  3. ↑ Kreider, Jocelyn. (2022, May). Tell Me About: Offshore Drilling in Florida.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Friedman, Lisa. (2023, September). Biden Administration Offers Fewest Offshore Oil and Gas Leases in History.
  5. ↑ Bullard, Robert. (2011, April). VOICES: Environmental justice communities bear brunt of BP's oil spill waste disposal.
  6. ↑ NRDC. (2009). Protecting Our Ocean and Coastal Economies: Avoid Unnecessary Risks from Offshore Drilling.
  7. ↑ Khan, A. (2012, April). Mysterious Dolphin Deaths In Louisiana May Be Caused By Natural Gas Drilling Prep.
  8. ↑ Hibbard, L. (2017, December). 3,000 Dolphins Found Dead On Peruvian Beaches In 2012.
  9. ↑ Peterson, B. (2017, December). War Games Killing Whales.
  10. ↑ McCauley, R., Day, R., Swadling, K., Fitzgibbon, Q., Watson, R., Semmens, J. (2017, June). Widely used marine seismic survey air gun operations negatively impact zooplankton.
  11. ↑ BOEM. (2014). Atlantic Geological And Geophysical (G&G) Activities Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Transportation Research Board, National Research Council. (2003). Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects.
  13. ↑ MMS. (2008). Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2009-2012.
  14. ↑ Thé, C., Johnson, M., Alkabbani, H., Munshed, M., Torrens, A., Matthews, B., Gomes, A., Lim, D., Thé, J. (2023, March). Outer Continental Shelf Air Quality System (OCS AQS): Year 2021 Emissions Inventory Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Study.
  15. ↑ EPA. (1998). NOX How Nitrogen Oxides Affect The Way We Live And Breathe.
  16. ↑ Riddick, S. N., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M., Harris, N. R. P., Allen, G., Pitt, J., Staunton-Sykes, J., Forster, G. L., Kang, M., Lowry, D., Nisbet, E. G., and Manning, A. J. (2019, August). Methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.
  17. ↑ Schwartz, Alison. (2022, April). Settlement Reached on Taylor Energy Oil Spill - the Largest Oil Spill You Never Heard of.
  18. ↑ Jamail, D. (2013, October). Gulf Ecosystem in Crisis Three Years After BP Spill.
  19. ↑ Elliott, D. (2013, December). For BP Cleanup, 2013 Meant 4.6 Million Pounds Of Oily Gunk.
  20. ↑ Pillion, D. (2015, February). New study shows evidence of massive undersea oil mat near Deepwater Horizon well site.
  21. ↑ NOAA. (2015, May). Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths.
  22. ↑ Center for Biological Diversity. The Devastating Wildlife Effects of Deepwater Horizon — and the Next Catastrophic Oil Spill.
  23. ↑ Short, J., Irvine, G., Mann, D., Maselko, J., Pella, J., Lindeberg, M., Payne, J., Driskell, W., Rice, S. (2007, January). Slightly Weathered Exxon Valdez Oil Persists in Gulf of Alaska Beach Sediments after 16 Years.
  24. ↑ BOEM. (2016, July). 2016 Update of Occurrence Rates for Offshore Oil Spills.
  25. ↑ NOAA. Tourism and Recreation.
  26. ↑ BOEM. Economic Contribution.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 The National Ocean Economics Program. (2020). NOEP index.
  28. ↑ BOEM. (2020). Economic Contribution.
  29. ↑ American Clean Power. (2024). Offshore wind power facts.
  30. ↑ Oceana. Offshore Wind Report: Key Findings.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 EIA. (2024, March). How much of the crude oil produced in the United States is consumed in the United States?.
  32. ↑ Statista. (2024, July). Oil production worldwide from 1998 to 2023.
  33. ↑ EIA. (2024, April). What countries are the top producers and consumers of oil?.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 EIA. (2024, January). Oil and petroleum products explained.
  35. ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2023, June). Oil and petroleum products explained.
  36. ↑ ConocoPhillips. Why importing and exporting oil makes sense.
  37. ↑ Patton, M. (2016, April). U.S. Dependence On Foreign Oil Hits 30-Year Low.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 BOEM. (2021, September). Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Continental Shelf, 2021.
  39. ↑ Ridlington, E., Lamp, K. (2019). Offshore Drilling, Onshore Damage.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 EIA. (2023, September). How much oil is consumed in the United States?.
  41. ↑ Considine, T. (2014, March). The Benefits And Costs Of Oil And Gas Development In California.
  42. ↑ Hogan, J. (2018, February). Does Pacific Northwest have any offshore oil to drill for?.
  43. ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Oil Spills and Hazardous Substance Releases.
  44. ↑ Loomis, R., Cleland, V. (2023, December). Yet Another Oil Spill Hits the Gulf of Mexico.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Wallace, J. (2009, November). Faulty promises in bid to drill off Florida?.
  46. ↑ Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network. Continental Shelf: CBNMS.
  47. ↑ MMS. (2006, January). Impact Assessment of Offshore Facilities from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  48. ↑ Fears, D. (2018, October). A 14-year-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U.S. history.




This article is part of a series on Clean Water which looks at various threats to the water quality of our oceans, and the negative impacts polluted waters can have on the environment and human health.

For information about laws, policies, programs and conditions impacting water quality in a specific state, please visit Surfrider's State of the Beach report to find the State Report for that state, and click on the "Water Quality" indicator link.


This article is part of a series on the Ocean Ecosystem looking at the various species of plants and animals which depend on a healthy coast and ocean environment, and the threats that can be posed to them by human activity

For information about laws, policies and conditions impacting the beach ecology of a specific state, please visit Surfrider's State of the Beach report to find the State Report for that state, and click on the "Beach Ecology" indicator link.

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