This article briefly discusses a discovery in a small part of Africa. Contrary to popular knowledge that the Middle East is the prime area to satisfy our petroleum needs, oil companies have made a discovery a little west of the continent– in Sierra Leone. This is not the first occasion in which oil has been discovered off the coast of Sierra Leone, the first time being a monumental find of 18,500 feet. This time international oil companies uncovered 135 feet. Sierra Leone’s location right on the west coast of Africa makes this a “high potential zone” for oil drilling, oil companies Repsol and its minor partners Anadarko and Tullow Oil announced.
One thing I enjoy about college courses is that somehow everything interconnects, everything is related to each other somehow. After reading this article, I was immediately reminded of a previous lesson in my Environment Protection and Energy Conservation class on sources of energy. “Energy is stored and available in different forms and sources (Pisupati).” These sources include renewable and non-renewable resources. Oil or petroleum would be classified as a non-renewable resource because it cannot be produced in a short period of time. This reminds me vaguely of a lesson in a high school class. However, one thing I did not recall and ironically, of course, is that we get most of our energy from these non-renewable resources.
How is this related to the 18,635 feet of oil found in Sierra Leone and parts of Liberia? Just a thought and for recap purposes for my upcoming EGEE102 exam: the middle is richest in petroleum while the U.S., Australia and China are richest in coal. This information is current, so if most of our oil comes from the Middle East, why were we drilling west of Africa two years ago? Are we running out of our natural resources faster than scientific experiments speculated or was this just a finding based on economic opportunity? The afrol News tone is stereotypical because it sounds like another party is benefiting from its resources instead of the country itself. I think that many news sources like to sugarcoat or at the other end exaggerate versions of the truth. This article gives the impression that drilling holes into the earth for the petroleum needs of others is beneficial for Sierra Leone. However, who is really benefiting from these harmful habits? The Sierra Leone people or the oil companies extracting the oil? Most likely the money making oil companies. On a positive note, I believe if the government and these companies could create a system where this can benefit both parties including the citizens a bright future is ahead of the people of Sierra Leone. This can possibly create jobs and if handled accordingly all can benefit from this economic discovery.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/36905