Sunken Transocean Deepwater Horizon Oil Drilling Rig and the Future of Oil Exploration

Transocean explosion lawyers know that if the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig spews millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, this environmental devastation, combined with the loss of life in the Transocean oil rig explosion, will negatively affect the drilling industry in several ways.

The wind and water current might drive leaking oil out to sea and this would make an already tragic situation even more catastrophic.  The situation would not only cause suffering for oil workers and their families, but also threaten the environment, thus hurting us all.

The rig accident happened at a very significant time in the offshore drilling industry's history.  Congress let a longstanding ban on drilling expire in 2008 and President Obama recently agreed to drilling off the Atlantic seaboard and recommended expanding drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.  Earlier this year as high as 63 percent of Americans favored allowing more offshore oil and gas drilling.

Some say that there is no way, however, that environmental concerns, rather than money, will drive the drilling debate. The crucial provisions in Kerry-Graham-Lieberman have to do with giving states a cut of the royalties from drilling in federal waters off their shores.  Barring a swift, decisive reversal of public opinion, some argue, cash-strapped states are unlikely to withdraw their support for production.

"While an investigation into what caused this tragic accident is definitely warranted to prevent it from occurring again, I would certainly hope that senators don't take an isolated, tragic accident such as this as an excuse to further restrict domestic energy production," said Patrick Creighton, spokesman for the Institute for Energy Research. "There will be time for investigations, but the focus of those on Capitol Hill should be those 11 missing men, not political capitalization."

For now, it is not even clear if the damaged well is going to leak oil. The rig has now sunk, further dimming hopes that 11 missing workers had survived.  The search for those missing Transocean Oil Rig Workers has been suspended.  The pipe sticks into a reservoir holding millions of barrels of oil.  Coast Guard officials have no evidence one way or the other on a spill.  An executive of rig owner Transocean said yesterday that the situation "has the potential to be a major spill."

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