Oil Fields

The bill also requires the Interior Department to lease at least two million acres of public lands—more than double the size of Rhode Island—for oil and gas drilling as a prerequisite for any renewable energy development on public lands.
—Council on Foreign Relations, "What the Historic U.S. Climate Bill Gets Right and Gets Wrong," by Alice C. Hill, August 10, 2022.

The BP oil spill left an oily "bathub ring" on the sea floor that's about the size of Rhode Island, new research shows.
—Associated Press, "Study claims 2010 BP oil spill left 'bathtub ring' on sea floor," October 28, 2014. Submitted by Mike Z.

The oil, which could reach shore in as little as three days, is escaping from two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. The spill has grown to more than 1,800 square miles, or an area larger than Rhode Island.
—Associated Press, " Crews Race to Contain Oil Spill After Rig Blast," April 27, 2010. Submitted by vi.

[Iraq's] southern fields are spread across an area about the size of New Jersey, while the northern fields are smaller, about the size of Rhode Island, Pentagon officials say.
—Associated Press, "Reviving Iraq's oil empire a top U.S. goal for post-Saddam period," by H. Josef Hebert, January 31, 2003.

The [Arctic] territory the president wants to open, known as "1002 Area," measures 2,344 square miles, or about twice the size of Rhode Island.
—The Christian Science Monitor, "Nation Split Sharply On Drilling In Arctic," by John Dillin, February 27, 2001.