Topic: Offshore Drilling
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Elizabeth Ritz
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Greece position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Offshore drilling is an extremely important means of increasing the world’s oil supply. The first offshore drilling was first pursued at the end of the 19th century. Today, some people say that countries should not pursue offshore drilling because of it’s environmental effects, most notably oil spills and water pollution from discharge that oil rigs put back into the ocean. Despite these environmental risks, offshore drilling is very advantageous because it allows countries to get some of their oil from closer to home, eliminating some of the costs of shipping the oil long distances and allowing them to put money back into their own markets.
Greece firmly believes that offshore drilling should be further pursued, because of its economic benefits. Offshore oil was first discovered in Greece from 1973-4 in the Thasos region. This discovery led to the Greek government’s creation of Public Petroleum Corporation (DEP) in 1975. In 1998 the Greek government began privatizing DEP, and its name got changed to Hellenic Petroleum SA. Today, Hellenic Petroleum SA is the largest company in Greece, giving it a huge stake in Greece’s economy. It continues to look for new places to drill oil, including offshore.
A Directorate for International Energy Affairs (Directorate B7) has been set up Greece’s Foreign Ministry. “Directorate B7 follows international energy issues and, in particular, energy developments in the field of oil and natural gas pipelines, electricity grids and the EU energy policy, as well as developments in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea regions”. In the oil sector, Directorate B7 supports the development of the Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline. This 280km long pipeline, 135km of it running through Greece, will serve as an outlet in the Mediterranean for crude oil coming from offshore rigs in the Caspian Sea. Greece believes that the construction of this pipeline will allow not only itself, but all of southeastern Europe’s economies to benefit.
Greece believes that UN should not put any type of ban or restriction of offshore drilling because it’s economic benefits outweigh any environmental damage that could be caused by it. In 2007 there were only 10 oil spills that were 7-700tonnes (metric tons), and only three that were greater than 700tonnes. Most of the spills caused by tankers were from operational routines such as loading, discharging and bunkering, which normally happen at ports or oil terminals. A majority of these operational spills were small, with 91% of them involving quantities of less than 7 tonnes. This goes to show that although there as been some environmental damage resulting from oil spills, overall the damage has been minimal. The economic benefits of offshore drilling are greater than the environmental risks. Greece firmly believes that the UN should pass a resolution that allows all countries to freely pursue offshore drilling.
