As Hurricane Ike batters the Texas and Louisiana Coast, motorists around the country begin to feel its effects. Gasoline prices have risen significantly in the last two days and more increases are on the way.

According to the Energy Information Administration:

- Nearly 1.3 million barrels per day (or about 95%) of the federal portion of the Gulf of Mexico’s crude oil production was shut-in.

So, you want to work an offshore drilling job. Do you know which companies are involved in offshore oil drilling? Besides the super-big players like Esso, BP, Shell, etc. Did you know that these big boys do not always do their own drilling? Quite often nowadays, they are forced to subcontract some of the work to smaller players.

Over the next two months we will see the topic of energy independence discussed and dissected by candidates and commentators. In order to achieve a goal of energy independence, Americans and candidates first need to understand what the goal really means.

It goes without saying that petro-chemicals have satisfied a wide spectrum of our needs and wants - from fertilizers to industrial chemicals to energy for transportation and electric power. It has fueled the green revolution in agriculture and is a vital part of what has made the globalized economy possible. But this has not come without cost and risk. In addition to the cost of production, there is the cost to the environment during extraction transportation, use and disposal.