Topic: Offshore Drilling
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Holly Deremo
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All United Kingdom position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
The Earth’s resources cannot be viewed as unlimited, and it would be highly irresponsible of any country to think that way. It’s been argued that offshore drilling is a reckless shortcut in an attempt to drop Oil prices. Oil is a natural resource that every country on the planet uses. It fuels our cars, aids in the creation of all plastic products including electronics, it’s a major ingredient in the petrochemical products we use to clean our homes, and wax is a raw petroleum bi-product, and the synthetic rubber soles of our shoes are made from petroleum. Today, the demand for synthetic rubber is four-times greater than for natural rubber therefore increasing the demand for petroleum. Make-up, nail polish and lipstick are all made partially from oil bi-products. Oil is also used in the creation of fertilizers for our crops, and it’s been proven that crop production would be half of what it is today without the use of fertilizers. Oil is also the main ingredient of the plastic films that cover the tops of solar panels.
The prices of Oil per barrel were at an all time low in January of 1998, when they dipped just below ten dollars a barrel. Almost a decade later, crude oil peaked above one hundred and forty seven dollars per barrel on July 11 of 2008. In a period of ten years there was a jump of nearly one hundred and thirty dollars. There are many things that can also affect oil prices, and cause them to rise. The UK has 3.56 Billion Barrels of Oil reserves, further proving our country as a major petroleum production nation. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation.
Offshore drilling is another way to quench the world’s voracious thirst for oil. Petroleum is such an important ingredient so many products we use on a day to day basis that we need to explore options to bring in more petroleum, including offshore drilling. Improvements and developments are also being made in the area of increasing environmental safety and cleanliness during production in the oil fields. The UK expects that the United States of America, France, The Russian Federation, Iraq, and Greece will feel similarly in regards to the issue of offshore drilling.
The UK also believes that while it is important that cleanliness be kept high and environmental impact be kept at low levels, there are different conditions in across the globe and strong guidelines should not be imposed. Green energies are still being developed and researched and it would be dangerous to mass implement them without further study and investigation. The UK hopes that other countries will realize that although it is key we research and further develop green and renewable energy resources, it is also important that we take advantages of the resources that we have access right now.
