Geology And Capitalism : Science And Technology On A World Of Oil Abundance

At the dawn of the twentieth century America’s future looked bright, Industrialization in addition to transforming America had brought with it advances in medicine, science, and technology. Production of everything from food to pharmaceuticals grew at an unprecedented rate throughout the twentieth century. Through the use of fossil fuels the developed world, especially that of the United States was able to sustain larger economies, populations, food surpluses and money surpluses. However when world production of oil peaked in 2005 (Ruppert), meaning the end of cheap, abundant crude oil that had fueled everything for so long. Thus began the recession of 2008, and through our politicians claim it ended in 2009 it remains clear that whenever the economy begins to gain momentum, the increase in fuel use retards its growth, all because the price of oil control our national and global economies. All the while we as Americans continue to live in our oil fantasy thinking the end of cheap oil will never happen and that there shall always be oil.

Oil suppliers dig deep down to the roots to analyze and derive concrete solutions to carry on the rising market. The force of fracking in the United States is lifting the economy; the system has been a political game changer for the nation, creating job opportunities and investing money into the community. The United States is currently capable of competing with the global marketplaces at a high rate. This coordination leads to knowledge for on-shoring manufacturing, which eliminates the dependency on foreign oil. This significant groundwork is driving opportunities for innovators. The abundant supply of oil and the inexpensive cost leads to cheaper energy for consumers (Dews, 2015). Along with the low price for refineries,

Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.

Our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas has created a vulnerability affecting our national security and economic stability. Up until this past decade there was an appreciable decline in our oil and natural gas production in the US and we were tied to world market price fluctuations. Oil prices and natural gas prices rose and fell based on OPEC’s and other large oil and natural gas producers’ production and pricing decisions. Beginning in 2005, things began to change in the US oil and natural gas industry. New technology called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” made it possible to extract oil and natural gas from geological

Americans have been drilling for oil for more than half of their existence. Before the 1850’s oil was of little use and had no market for commerce as there was not one overwhelming use for it. Until around the 1850’s, when technology advanced, with it sparking search for one of the most sought after natural resources that countries would later go to war over, petroleum oil. Early inventions like the kerosene lamp provided a new stable home necessity to live by, increasing the demand for crude oil. This would be met in part by Colonel Edwin Drake, who drilled the first successful oil well in 1858. While Drake’s invention for extracting crude oil from the ground would bring about a new era for industrialization, his “black gold” would bring about an even larger effect, the environmental disasters caused by man. For over one hundred and fifty years of drilling for oil, both on shore and offshore, has led to some of the worst catastrophes to both nature and mankind. While many of these catastrophes have led to the deaths of hundreds of crew members, they have also led to long lasting effects on the environment, local and national economies, legislation, regulations, and human morale. These following effects can be seen in the most recent and most contaminated marine oil spill in history. To the media and public it’s known as the British Petroleum offshore drilling oil spill in 2010.

Adam Mayer was featured in ScienceDirect with his paper, "Risk And Benefits In A Fracking Boom: Evidence From Colorado”. This article is available through the online source EBSCO and a hardcopy version though The Extractive Industries and Society Journal published by Elsevier Ltd in 2016. While Mayer has no listed qualifications himself, he represents Colorado State University, one of the most influential and environmentally forward universities in our state. Using both primary and secondary sources, Mayer analyzes how hydraulic fracturing has created a boom in production of oil and gas throughout the United States and how Colorado has seen and dealt with the effects more directly. This ScienceDirect paper was written to educate the public

In January 2016, the cost of a gallon of gas dropped below two dollars, and consumers were rejoicing. Driving that car with twelve miles to the gallon car wasn’t so bad. Going to the grocery store was a little cheaper because of the transportation costs of goods. Americans could afford a like extra and never wonder about why the gas dropped. We were still hurting from three dollars or more for a gallon. Companies in the United States started drilling for oil on American soil in larger quantities than before two years earlier in 2014. Jobs in the industry were aplenty. Young adults straight out of high school could go into training for a year and come out making six figures by they were twenty-five. The amount of oil produced was

The book, Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil is a warning to the world about the great harms that have been imposed on people and the earth by our need and dependence on petroleum products. The story is much darker than most people know and Maass is hoping to change that.

Needless to say, that the exploitation of oil and gas created polarizing relationships between the economy and the environment at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. The phenomenon of the oil and gas production in Canada plays into environmental concerns of Climate Change in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, violations of First Nations land rights, vulnerability on an international market, and long-term ecological consequences, such as air and water pollution, oil spills and leaks, and etc., over “economic” benefits.

Klare argues that discovery of a natural resource, for instance, oil, result in producers seeking and exploiting the most desirable, best quality and those closest to markets. Over time, these “easy” resources become scarce, of poorer quality, harder to extract and extend into areas further away from the market. This subsequent need to extract “tougher” resources has catalyzed an age of discovery that energy experts call the “shale revolution.” Daniel Yergin, an author and energy optimist describes the “natural gas

The global spread of oil drilling is connected to the reasons why oil was first exploited in the first place; it was plentiful, it had the highest energy density per weight, it was not already being exploited. Chief to the purpose of this paper on oil drilling lies in the words was and had. The fact that those words are in the past, and the idea that things superior to oil have come along, is something that needs to be brought up more often. The fact is that oil, as a resource, is simply out of date. The addiction that humanity has to ‘black gold’ is unprecedented in the history of mankind, and the reasons why this addiction is more dangerous than any standard addiction are numerous.

Our society runs on oil. It powers our cars, planes and trains, it’s used to build our workplaces and homes, even forming the plastics of our children’s toys, cell phones, and even the very laptop that this essay was typed on. But, oil is not an unlimited resource. As our society’s needs for oil keep growing and growing, the need for more of this oil to be extracted from the earth also increases, leading to new and complex ways of extracting oil. Fracking, tar sand extraction, and offshore oil rigs are all technologies developed solely to fuel our society’s ever-growing demand for petroleum products. However, sometimes the pressure of demand is so strong on the developers of these methods

The IEA found that 59% of all primary energy consumption is from oil and natural gas. In the US and Europe reserves of crude oil peaked in the 1970’s and since then with only few notable exceptions extraction has outstripped additions to reserves. Oil is an exhaustible and finite resource, therefore it’s price must not only reflect current supply but future supply in order to reflect scarcity. It must be assumed that as reserves are an indicator of scarcity they should be important an factor in pricing. Though as a result of economic replenishment as price increases producers will find it possible to use more capital intensive methods to recover greater reserves such as drilling in the North Sea, and technological progress

close look at my Resume will indicate that I majored in the exploitation of oil and gas fields in my undergraduate program and specialized in petroleum engineering, a similar specialty, in my Master’s program. It may well be asked why I maintain such a close affinity with petroleum. The answer is simple and straightforward—because I was born and I grew up on an oil field and I have cherished a deep love for all that it represent. Even as a child, I had a habit of watching for hours how beam-pumping units, standing as if like a miniature forest, worked, indulging myself in all kinds of fantasies and reflections about the mysterious reservoir underground with great curiosity. I imagined that someday I would be able to unveil its mysteries.

The dependence on petroleum in today’s society would have stunned the 19th century producers of Pennsylvania “rock oil.” Since the advent of the modern petroleum industry, the demand and dependence upon petroleum and its products has steadily risen making it a highly valuable commodity in industrialized parts of the world. Petroleum and its byproducts are found in transportation fuels, fuel oils for heating and electricity generation, asphalt and road oil, and is part of the raw materials used to create chemicals, cosmetics, plastics, and synthetic materials found in almost all consumable products. Whether we realize, understand, or acknowledge it, petroleum is a resource incorporated into nearly every aspect of our lives. The founders of the oil industry in America could never have dreamed of humanity’s unprecedented dependence on petroleum. However, along with immense success and affluence in most of the world’s societies, it comes at a cost. As useful and beneficial as oil is to industry and business, petroleum has elicited an immensely harmful impact upon the world’s environment and ecosystems.