offshore drilling

1. The operation of oil wells on the continental shelf, sometimes in water hundreds of feet deep.

Public debate about offshore drilling concentrates on the possibility that large oil spills will occur, with subsequent damage to the coastal environment.

Example Sentences

A spokesman with the California Natural Resources Agency said the state remains committed to prohibiting new offshore drilling and protecting coastline communities.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In California, much of the opposition to offshore drilling stems from memories of a 1969 oil spill off Santa Barbara that helped launch the environmental movement.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Offshore drilling, however, hasn’t been part of the state’s efforts to expand production.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

California isn’t likely to cooperate with that onshore work, and in fact has built up something of a “blue wall” of opposition to offshore drilling through local resolutions and legislative efforts, according to Richard Charter, senior fellow with the nonprofit Ocean Foundation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the weeks before the conference, oil and gas major Petrobras, was given licenses by the Brazilian government to explore offshore drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal