Topic: Impact and Safety of Deep Water Drilling
Country: China
Delegate Name: Ashley Sherman-Hay
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All China position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
In the regard of energy production and usage, China is striving to becoming more and more self-sufficient. While this self-sufficiency will grow from the utilization of environmentally friendly energy techniques, it will also grow from modifications of deep sea oil drilling and other ways of processing fossil fuels. Reflecting upon the tragic incident of the Macondo Project in the Gulf of Mexico, China recognizes that fossil fuels must be contained and cannot be permitted to contaminate water sources and harm wildlife. Reform and policies need to be instated to prevent a loss of life and destruction to natural habitats.
Alongside UN regulations, other countries need to adopt methods of individual accountability to prevent future instances. Government funding to this cause is encouraged. On a national scale, the Chinese company, CNNOC, has exclusive rights to safely extract fossil fuels from deep sea sources. A priority of the company's is to avoid future repeats of the Macondo Projects. The BP spill has prompted stricter inspections on oil rig construction sites, and while this may be more economically taxing and slow the process, safety regulations will ensure that future discoveries deep within the earth that are only accessible through the ocean floor ensue.
Strongly believing that maintaining self-sufficiency is a key goal, China believes that standards should be implemented to ensure that there is a future in this field. By no means has the field reached its highest peak, and with the production and use of China's first deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform, standards have been reinstated in the country at a much higher level. The Bohai Bay Field recently reached completion and the concept of self-sustenance remains.
While this issue is indeed one of international concern, international standards should be encouraged to prevent losses of life and significant damage to the environment, however it is left to the country to make the ultimate decision. Serving as a moral code, standards would permit countries with large sectors of their economy vested in oil drill to grow significantly, minimizing profit loss, seen following the BP spill. Individual accountability and safety standards would aid to economies and the safety of the environment.
