The Implications of Oil Exploration off the Gulf Coast of Florida

Abstract

In the United States (U.S.), oil exploration and production remain critical economic engines for local, state, and federal economies. Recently, the U.S. Department of the Interior expressed interest in expanding offshore oil production by making available lease areas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. West Coast and East Coast, as well as offshore Alaska. With the promise of aiding in energy independence, these new lease areas could help solidify the U.S. as one of the world's largest oil-producing countries, while at the same time bolstering the local and regional energy job sectors. Of all the newly proposed lease areas, the Gulf Coast of Florida is particularly contentious. Opponents of drilling in the area cite the sensitive ecosystems and the local and state tourism economy that depends heavily on the numerous beaches lining Florida's coast. In this analysis, we use a data-driven spatial analytic approach combined with advanced oil spill modeling to determine the potential impact of oil exploration off of Florida's Gulf Coast given a loss-of-control event. It is determined that plume behavior varies drastically depending on the location of the spill but that overall impacts are comparable across all spill scenario sites, highlighting the necessity of contingency-type analyses. Implications for spill response are also discussed.

Effects of Wave Conditions and Particle Size on the Release of Oil from Oil-Contaminated Sediments in a Wave Tank

“…The Oman crude oil was evaluated in this study. The density was measured six times using a Petroleum densimeter (SY-05) at 20 • C and the average value was 0.8720 g/cm 3 . The kinematic viscosity was measured for three times using a Kinematic viscosimeter (BF-03C) at 20 • C and the average value was 13.26 mm 2 /s.…”

“…These oil spills not only destroy aquatic habitants but also adversely affect the health of the population near oil spill shorelines. In most cases, the density of spilled oil is lower than seawater and tends to form multiple surface slicks, mousses, and sheens due to the natural weathering processes including evaporation, emulsification, dissolution, dispersion, and photo-oxidation [3]. Traditional recovery of the spilled oil is mainly based on the physical methods such as booming and skimming.…”

Oil spill modeling: computational tools, analytical frameworks, and emerging technologies

“…Similarly, advances in spatially explicit ecosystem models, reliant on robust datasets detailing ocean physics, chemistry, and biology, have been used to more accurately assess the implications of oil spills to entire ecosystems (Ainsworth et al, 2018). Finally, new representations of the spatial vulnerability of coastlines are also being published that take into account the growing amount of published spatial data available to researchers (Depellegrin and Pereira, 2016; Nelson and Grubesic, 2018).…”

Estimates of losses and recovery of ecosystem services for oiled beaches lack clarity and ecological realism

“…Beach oiling usually elicits a cleanup response to remove the oil because beaches are popular recreational destinations and generate substantial revenue for coastal communities (Houston 2008, Pouso et al 2018, Pascoe 2019. Estimating tourist-related financial losses imposed by a closed beach are tractable (Nelson and Grubesic 2018). Less well quantified are beach ecosystem services diminished by oiling impacts (Lucrezi et al 2016).…”