Offshore Drilling Persuasive Essay

The Outer Continental Shelf contains an estimated 14.3 billion barrels of oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (“Offshore Oil Drilling”). When Americans consume more than one fourth of the world’s oil, but only produces 10%, it is safe to say that if the U.S. took advantage of drilling offshore, way more than a miniscule 10% of oil would be produced (“Offshore Oil Drilling”). Lifting the bans of restricted parts of the ocean will allow the U.S. to produce more oil and natural gas. Offshore drilling currently supports about 242,000 jobs across the country, with expanding this industry; the United States could create over 190,000 new jobs for Americans (“Energy Tomorrow”). In the current economic situation, the U.S. must take every opportunity that is available to create more jobs.

Lowering gas prices can have a huge impact on an individual’s life style. The less money spent on gas, the more money there is for other various expenses. The critics of offshore drilling say that with a cost of over 75 million dollars, the drilling process would not be worth the time and effort to break even (“Federal Offshore Field Production”). Yet, even the slightest change in price makes a difference. Today 85% of the U.S. waters are currently blocked off to drilling, while the other 15% of ocean which is legal to drill in; produces over 25% of the United States oil (“Hasting”). If bans on restricted waters are lifted, production will increase and the government will rely less on foreign oil which means the public would pay less for gas (“Hasting”). Expanding offshore drilling will create up to 1.2 million jobs and has the potential profit of over 8 trillion dollars (“Hasting”). Hans A. von Spakovsky says that “The government needs to move aside and let private industry do what private industry does best; create jobs and increase our oil supply to help lower prices at the