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At some point in our daily activities, we all draw upon a reserve of one or more of earths’ natural resources; One of the most crucial of these being crude oil. It and its derivatives are used as primary sources of energy and thus, crude oil it is constantly in high demand. In order to meet this demand in the most economical fashion, oil companies have made offshore drilling into a common practice. However, offshore drilling is devastating to the environment in several ways. As a result of the equipment and methods used to extract the oil, high levels of pollution are released into the atmosphere, disturbing nearby ecosystems. Secondly, the high level of drilling is consistently depleting the earth’s supply of many natural resources. Furthermore, organisms and animals in the areas surrounding the drilling are susceptible to many of the negative side effects of the process. Thus, it is evident that the negative environmental impacts of offshore drilling greatly outweigh any possible economic benefits. Crude oil is a very important natural resource. It is defined as being a fossil fuel. Thus, it is the product of decades old decay of sea plants and animals and is found in abundance in very old sea beds. Crude oil is a