What lies beneath

Despite the recent catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, the MENA looks to deep water drilling

Executive magazine - Commentary

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is fortunate to be able to tap the majority of its oil onshore and in shallow coastal waters. That's meant a minimal need for deepwater drilling and its associated risks, exemplified by the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that saw some five million barrels of crude spew out of the Macondo well over the course of three months.

But with oil fields maturing in North Africa, oil companies are exploring for black gold at ever-deeper depths in the Mediterranean Sea. In Libya, for example, the colossal Gulf of Sirte basin extends to depths 2,000 meters below sea level — that's some 500 meters deeper than the Macondo well. Deepwater drilling is already underway in the territorial waters of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Yet it was only when the tarnished British oil company BP announced in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill that it is to start exploration off the Libyan coast that Mediterranean states and environmental groups took note of the potential dangers, calling for a moratorium on deepwater drilling. Italy has been the most vocal in calling for a unified strategy for the Mediterranean, what with the Sirte basin only some 500 kilometers from its territory. The Italian foreign minister suggested deepwater drilling should be referred to the Union for the Mediterranean, but this body of European Union and littoral states has essentially been a white elephant thus far, initially beset by problems within the EU and stymied by the Israeli-Arab conflict. The need for a common front on deepwater drilling is a pressing one. An oil spill in the Mediterranean would be a disaster on par if not more calamitous than in the Gulf of Mexico, given the size of the sea and the 21 countries it borders. As the recent BP spill has shown, oil companies and governments are not prepared for when accidents occur.

Libya, according to the United Nations, does not yet have a national contingency plan for an oil spill, while Italian budget cuts have hampered the country's response effectiveness. The rest of the Med is equally ill-equipped to cope with a major oil spill. With so many countries involved a unified front is unlikely, but pressure could be brought to bear on oil companies with deepwater drilling operations to hold off until the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been fully investigated, as the United States and Norway have done. Indeed, BP appears to have caved to pressure, delaying the launch of deepwater operations in Libya.

But deepwater drilling is also in the cards for the Red Sea, and over in the Persian Gulf more than 1,600 offshore wells — albeit in much shallower waters — have been drilled in the past decade, according to Energyfiles. A consolidated stance on offshore drilling for the whole MENA region is clearly needed, which could be spearheaded by the Arab League and then developed in coordination with the EU and other neighbors.

While many want deepwater drilling banned outright, as long as the planet relies on oil-powered economies, we arguably have little choice but to take the oil wherever it may be found. Indeed, over the past 15 years, deepwater drilling has sourced some 60 billion barrels of oil, according to Deutsche Bank, and will account for 10 percent of global oil production between 2008 and 2015.

Deepwater drilling should be viewed in light of the pros and cons. Sure, income is generated, but an oil spill would cost billions to clean up and have untold costs on the fishing industry and the Mediterranean's top earner, tourism. Ten percent of global oil production coming from deepwater drilling is significant, but alternative energies could offset this, such as the solar power projects underway in Morocco.

Countries embarking on offshore drilling, particularly in deep waters, need to weigh up these upsides and downsides. In any event, energy producing states and oil companies should set up a multi-billion dollar contingency fund for any potential spill in the MENA region. With so much money being made off energy, protecting the environment should be considered an operational cost. This makes even more sense when you consider that demands on MENA oil production are set to increase to offset lost output in the oil-drenched Gulf of Mexico.

PAUL COCHRANE is the Middle East correspondent for International News Services