Task 10
Study the situation. List the advantages and disadvantages of
exploiting oil fields in offshore Greenland.
Experts believe there huge oil reserves offshore from Greenland. Exploration
will be difficult and expensive. It is only possible to
explore three months of the
year. Temperatures are -30
0
C in winter. Drilling offshore will be difficult. There
are dangers from icebergs. There is also a 25% chance that there is no oil.
Greenland’s 57000 people live mostly from fishing and hunting. Oil will allow it to
become rich and completely independent of Denmark.
Drilling and onshore installations could damage Greenland’s environment. The
habitat of wildlife like polar bears is in danger. Some people believe it will destroy
the traditional way of life of Greenlanders and make social problems.
Task 11 Dave Bradley is a manager at Oil Company that is thinking about
exploiting the oil Sands. Read his report. Is Dave for or against it?
Subject: Athabasca Oil Sands Project
1) _______ The Athabaska Oil Sands in Canada has the world’s biggest source
of bitumen. A working staff was asked to look into exploiting the resource.
2) ________ The Oil Sands provide an enormous and accessible reserve of oil.
When world oil prices are high, companies like ours may consider exploiting the
Sands.
3)________ Although
exploration costs are low, production costs are high. The
steam extraction process is expensive because it uses a lot of energy.
4) __________The Sands are covered by forest in area of natural beaty. Steam
extraction needs a lot of water so rivers will probably
be polluted and wildlife
killed. In addition, it will affect the lives of the native people who live there.
5) __________ On balance, I believe that the financial
isk and risks to the
company’s reputation are too great. In my opinion we should continue to exploit
our more conventional resources.
Task 12 Match the headings with the paragraphs.
a) Environmental risk
b) Financial risk
c) Recommendations
d) Backround
e) The business opportunity
