http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/11/pictures/131127-manual-oil-drilling-myanmar/
Joseph Eaton
Myanmar, formally known as Burma is a country located in South East Asia that currently has a very large group of independent oil prospectors. This oil prospectors are usually farmers that want to supplement their money from farming by also selling crude oil. They use methods from the 1800's that can sometimes be incredibly dangerous. In a world where enormous oil companies have drilling operations all over the world its very odd that a resource rich country like Myanmar would not have such an underdeveloped oil infrastructure. The reason for this is that over the last five decades there have been extreme sanctions placed on the regime that ruled Myanmar for their conduct in the political and social realms of Myanmar. As of now a large portion of these sanctions have been lifted due to political and social reforms within Myanmar. Oil companies are already lining up for their shot and drilling inside of Myanmar and on the coast with many companies already securing land a ocean drilling rights. It seems that the last days of independent oil prospectors in Myanmar are approaching. This article does not have much of a conclusion when it comes to what this could mean for the environment in Myanmar and in South East Asia. It makes you wonder whether or not this will be a positive for the environment. On the one hand it allows us to continue our dependence on oil rather than looking for new ways to create green energy. It will surely lead to at least a few minor oil spills on land or in the ocean which will kill a huge amount of organisms but could it be better than the current situation in Myanmar? With farmers using methods developed in the 1800's they are surely themselves hurting the environment by not containing the oil that they drill. The same thing has happened in Nigeria where poor Nigerians tap into the huge oil pipelines across the country, causing enormous spills because of their inability to handle a crude oil operation of that size safely. It may actually be safer and better for Myanmar in general to have professionals drill for oil rather than having poor farmers doing the drilling.
Joseph Eaton
Myanmar, formally known as Burma is a country located in South East Asia that currently has a very large group of independent oil prospectors. This oil prospectors are usually farmers that want to supplement their money from farming by also selling crude oil. They use methods from the 1800's that can sometimes be incredibly dangerous. In a world where enormous oil companies have drilling operations all over the world its very odd that a resource rich country like Myanmar would not have such an underdeveloped oil infrastructure. The reason for this is that over the last five decades there have been extreme sanctions placed on the regime that ruled Myanmar for their conduct in the political and social realms of Myanmar. As of now a large portion of these sanctions have been lifted due to political and social reforms within Myanmar. Oil companies are already lining up for their shot and drilling inside of Myanmar and on the coast with many companies already securing land a ocean drilling rights. It seems that the last days of independent oil prospectors in Myanmar are approaching. This article does not have much of a conclusion when it comes to what this could mean for the environment in Myanmar and in South East Asia. It makes you wonder whether or not this will be a positive for the environment. On the one hand it allows us to continue our dependence on oil rather than looking for new ways to create green energy. It will surely lead to at least a few minor oil spills on land or in the ocean which will kill a huge amount of organisms but could it be better than the current situation in Myanmar? With farmers using methods developed in the 1800's they are surely themselves hurting the environment by not containing the oil that they drill. The same thing has happened in Nigeria where poor Nigerians tap into the huge oil pipelines across the country, causing enormous spills because of their inability to handle a crude oil operation of that size safely. It may actually be safer and better for Myanmar in general to have professionals drill for oil rather than having poor farmers doing the drilling.
I completely agree with you on this issue. It'd be much safer to have these large, regulated companies handle the oil, rather than very crude and primitive oil drilling operations. In general, the whole concept of oil is something that should be abandoned, however if we are going to keep using it, is should be used and extracted safely at the very least.
ReplyDeleteJust looking at the conditions that these people are working in, do not look safe, or even pleasant to walk around in...mud, garbage, sticks, bare feet... What are these people thinking? I also agree with you on the issue that the smaller village companies should leave the bigger companies to the big job of drilling for crude oil. It makes a huge mess of the environment even when they are doing it properly.
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