Drilling in one of the last pristine areas of the world to start soon
Cairn, which will be the only company to drill deep wells offshore in the Arctic this year, holds 11 licences in Baffin Bay covering over 80,000 square kilometres. It plans to drill four exploratory wells to depths of around 5,000ft, the deepest ever attempted in the Arctic.
Now drilling is only possible between July and October due ice cover.
The bay is not navigable most of the year because of the ice cover and high density of floating ice and icebergs in the open areas.
You tend to have icebergs floating around during the drilling season drifting on the winds and currents, storms though less frequent in summer still occur. There was an event concerning an unsinkable ship and an iceberg if my memory serves me well
Baffin bay is also an area of considerable seismic activity
As recent events show we are all but powerless to minimize the risk when faced with mother nature in all her fury
So here we are on Earth Day [whatever that means these days] and the worlds second largest drilling rig is on its way to Baffin Bay.
Accidents will happen, imagine if an event similar to last years gulf spill occurred north of the Arctic circle? Just say to be awkward it occurred in October, then pretty much nothing could be done until the following July.....8 months..... and then would there be time to drill a relief well before the next ice season? I suppose we could always burn enough fossil fuel to make the Arctic ice free...that may take some time and incur other small problems.
Do the benefits outweigh the risks will we reduce our dependence on oil or merely fuel the need?
and on the role that humans play in shaping the dynamics of marine ecosystems. More importantly, they are essential techniques for recognizing what our marine ecosystems once were, what they are currently, and what they might be in the future.
Care is needed, is there sufficient care be taken in our rush for oil in the Arctic?
Accidents will happen, is it worth the risk?