New Orleans: Chapter Eleven- The Great Plains

The Great Plains and the area of New Orleans have something in common. Energy production in the form of oil is a primary-sector activity they both share. According to The Geography of North America , oil and natural gas fields are plentiful in the southern Plains. Oil production has increased dramatically in the Williston Basin of eastern Montana, western North Dakota, and southern Saskatchewan. Northern Alberta contains what may become the largest reserve of petroleum outside the Middle East.In 2008, according to the United States Geological Survey, cited in the textbook, there was an estimated 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Willston Basin, with more than 2 billion in the North Dakota portion alone.

The oil and gas industry is an important part of New Orleans economic base. Major U.S petroleum companies located in New Orleans include Shell, Exxon, Mobil, and British Petroleum (BP).

Louisiana as a state is critical to US energy operation. Some facts:

* Louisiana produces 11 percent of U.S. petroleum

*19 percent of the country's reserves of natural gas

*Louisiana is a primary source of the nation's crude oil

*Louisiana is second in production of the nation's natural gas

* Second in total energy production

*25 percent of America's petrochemicals, including basic chemicals, plastics and fertilizers

*Second-highest mineral producer in the U.S

The oil industry in Louisiana has had a negative effect on the state and the city of New Orleans as well. Essential plants of the Mississippi delta have been profoundly impacted by the industry. For vegetation to have high productivity, it needs natural and regular flow of sediment. Levees and canals have diverted this flow. As a result, a phenomenon known as depressurization has lead to subsidence, a fancy word for sinking. In other words, the delta is like a glass with soda pop in it and a drinking straw is similar to an oil-drilling pipe. Suck on the straw and your soda pop, or your oil comes to the surface. However, when that happens, the level of the liquid drops as the pressure underneath is lessened. As oil is pumped from the ground, New Orleans is sinking. Subsidence in the Mississippi Delta is thought to be around 10mm per year.