Hydrocarber Industry Advantages And Disadvantages

Oil has often been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Although this is an overemphasis, oil has been the key, nonhuman resource of the economy throughout the largest part of the 20th century. In the book “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power” by Daniel Yergin, the author illustrates the political, societal, economic, and geo-strategic importance of this product.

In 1997 the sales of natural gas surged in 1997 as one of Qatar’s North Field came on line (Beard, p. 18). This specific event contributed to a total GDP of approximately 30% (Beard, p. 18). Further development in 04’ can be directly attributed to transportation, storage, hotels, bank and finance and government. Again, Qatar’s reinvestment in their community enables them to function and thrive even with any imbalances in the gas and oil industry that many other countries base their entire GDP to. Further growth was seen through Qatar’s history though. Specifically, in 2008, Qatar’s capital was believed to have peaked. Further contributing factors are the positive traits that coincided not only with the factors that enabled them to grow not only in the hydrocarbon sector nonetheless the non-hydrocarbon sector as well. The labor growth within Qatar has indefinitely increase. Specifically, many workers have migrated from one sector of growth to the other. The IMF stated that, “Qatar’s population rose from approximately 650 000 in 2001 to 1.9 million in 2013. The employment-to-population ratio rose from 48 percent in 2001 to 68 percent in 2007 and more than 85 percent in 2013. As a result, growth in GDP per worker has been slower than growth in GDP per population (Table 1). This is illustrated in the case of the non-hydrocarbon sector, which appears to be growing fast in per-capita terms but not in per-worker terms” (Beard, p. 20). However, with this population increase occurring, production by these workers lacked. IMF found that this production was in decline from 01’ through 09’, but then elevated in 12’ with a slight decline yet again in 2013. This may only be explained by the shift of labor to the construction sector of the

Dominated by agriculture grown for export markets since colonial times, the economy of this West African nation is beginning to diversify (Michael Radu). According to statistics provided by the International Monetary Fund, in 2006 revenues from oil and refined products surpassed earnings from the nation’s biggest cash crop, cocoa (African Studies Center). The government in 2011, predicted that the nation’s biggest source of wealth would be petroleum resources. Currently more than 30 international mining companies are mining and exploring reserves of gold. Political stability will determine is multinational energy and mining companies can assist with bringing gold, natural gas, diamonds, nickel, oil, and other natural resources. Foreign investments have slowed down due to political instability, which contributed to the country’s initial financial success. Economic growth has come to a standstill. Although the GDP growth rate improved from about 2% in 2008 to 4% in 2009–2011, per capita income has continuously dropped since 1999, with a slight improvement in 2009–2010 (Central Intelligence

For example, Shell Oil, an MNC (Multi National Corporation), extracted 50% of Nigeria’s yearly crude output, and 14% of its own output from the Niger delta region (The Changing Nature of Third World Exploitation, 1995). Though a large number of the local populace was recruited by Shell to serve as the basic labor force, there has been no change in the deplorable conditions the locals were living in. Over a period of 15 years, due to massive and widespread oil spills, heavy land degradation of the alluvial soil has taken place. The locals, who come from an agriculture based society, have in effect, been deprived of their ancestral way of life, their heritage, all due to the greed driven actions of the partly

Djibouti has few natural resources and little industry; therefore, it is heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. (“The World Factbook,” 2011). The

“Algeria holds the eleventh-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and the second largest in Africa. Gas is supplied either through several pipelines or as Liqued Natural Gas (LNG). It is also estimated to have the third largest recoverable shale gas deposits after China and Argentina” (Reinforcing Dictatorships, 2014). The country is an OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member and stands as the 15th largest extractor of crude oil in the world. Natural gas and oil account for almost all of Algeria’s total primary energy consumption (Reinforcing Dictatorships, 2014). North Africa is one of the EU’s most reliant and important partners. The relationship between the Maghreb countries and Europe (in particular Italy, France and Spain) has multiple branches including: trade and investment, regional stability and cultural exchanges (European Union External Action, 2016). The tie between Europe and North African countries, in particular with the Maghreb was strengthened through multiple historical events. With recent events going on in regards to Russia and the world the EU is seeking to lower their energy dependency from Russia and divert it somewhere else. Algerians recognize that Algeria has consistently maintained high levels of trade with France with goods such as oil, gas, or agricultural goods.

For most of the people, conditions are difficult and desperate. Chronic food shortages are widespread, and starvation levels among young children are high (Ruralpoverty.org). Chad fairs poorly with regard to the four generic factors of production. As much of Chad is positioned within the hot and dry Sahara Desert made up of barren land, most of the country is a limiting resource. Natural resources are limited and or under developed. As there is very little manufacturing, there is little improvement in improving production processes for turning natural resources into consumer goods. The labor pool is small, young and uneducated. 80% of the workforce is employed in labor intensive farming. Just 20% of the workforce is employed in the higher skilled areas of manufacturing and providing technical services (CIA.gov). Much of Chad’s workforce is one dimensional and not able to be flexible enough to move to other areas as training is limited and the education system is almost non-existent. Regarding capital, like other countries in poverty lacking in natural resources, Chad must import goods and is reliant on on foreign aid. Investors are frightened by the challenging business climate in Chad. In 2012, Chad was ranked last in the world in ease of doing business by the World Bank. Entrepreneurship is present in Chad, however, most are black market businesses that feed on governmental bureaucracy and corruption. Very few entrepreneurs

The oil-rich Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, located on the northern coast of South America, was for many decades considered among the wealthiest nations in the entire continent. While having the largest proven oil reserves in the world has often proved a tremendous boon for Venezuela, the very black gold that has been the cause of its success has also proven to repeatedly be its kryptonite. Over half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product stems from petroleum exports – which equates to approximately 95% of total exports. It is really not too hard to imagine what drastic consequences shifts in global oil prices could have on the economy.

Djibouti, a small African country located at the forefront of the Suez Canal, has a economy and employment sector that heavily relies on its ports. (BBC, Country Profile) Of the 800,000 population of Djibouti, approximately 42 percent of those people are categorized as below the poverty line. In addition the economy has been at a stagnant growth at around three percent. The economy for the past decade or so has a GDP that is compromised of almost 80 percent related to the service industry. This has subsequently led to a crippled economy that is barred with enormous costs related to labor and small productivity rates. There is also a huge gender gap with regard to

In the early seventies of the past century, most of the developed countries’ economies started to tremble due to the unexpected oil shock, fired up by the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) proclaiming a severe restriction in the oil’s supply.

The Chad Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project is one of the largest investments in the private sector in Africa that costs approximately US$3.7 billion. The project is being funded by the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation. The involvement of these two major financial institutions is a demonstration of the rationale that the project will generate revenue that will enable the Chad and Cameroonian governments to invest more in programs that focus on reducing poverty like rural employment, education, and health. The involvement of the International Financial Corporation will be geared towards accomplishing three major roles. These are long-term financing, stabilizing role, and uplifting the quality and standard of mitigation plans and environmental assessments.

Second largest country in Africa, tenth largest country in the world, diverse culture extending from the Mediterranean coast to the dunes of the Sahara Desert...Algeria. Even with its massive size the current status of Algeria’s economy is quivering in the lofty winds of the Tell Atlas Mountains. The economy tends to remain dominated by the state, which is accordingly a legacy of the country’s socialist post-independence development model. Hydrocarbons are the backbone for Algeria, accounting for 60% of budget revenues, 30% GDP, and 95% of export earnings. Reviewing the last five years we see the government halting privatization of state-owned industries, and increasing the restrictions of imports and foreign involvement. Algeria’s

Heterogeneous catalysts are extensively used in the chemical or oil industries to purify and upgrade various feeds and to improve process efficiency, commonly consisting of metals supported on porous materials like alumina or silica. During operations, these catalysts deactivate with its periodical use [1], through structural changes, poisoning, or the deposition of external materials, and are sent to on-site or off-site regeneration plants. However, the regeneration of spent catalysts is only possible in a limited number of catalytic systems and can only be carried out a few times. Thus, when regeneration is not possible because the catalyst can no longer perform its original duty, is referred to as “spent catalyst”, and is considered a solid waste.

Algeria’s history of producing gas isn’t extremely long, but it is very productive and beneficial for its economy and the economy of Africa, as well as Europe. Covering an area of around 2,382 thousand square kilometers, the Republic of Algeria is, territorially, OPEC’s largest Member Country and the largest country in Africa. It is situated in the north of the continent, and shares borders with Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Tunisia. To the north is the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria was colonized by France as far back as 1830 under the reign of Charles X. Algeria gained political independence in 1962, just four years after it began to produce natural gas. Their colonial struggle lasted eight years and cost the lives of one million Algerians, out of a population of nine million Arabs and Berbers. (A berber is a group of people in Algeria that are settled farmers or migrant workers.)

Most of the growth in Morocco can be attributed to outstanding agricultural production a much higher growth than industry and services 7. The biggest issue is theree is disparate growth level because agriculture only contributes partially to creating stable jobs because agriculture production is made to domestic consumption and teh recession in Eurpoe, moroccoan exports fell drastically in 2009. Another issues of the global economic crisis has been the reduction in the flux of migrants remittances and in the rents deriving from tourism. Regarding energy, Morocco is rich in agricultural resources and phosphates but is in constant need of energy. It is a net importer of enery and heavily depneds on it. This makes for a fragile state for Morocco’s economy and is expected to increase in the future because of growing urbanization. 9