Oil Companies and Economic Power
Introduction
In the modern world energy has become very important since it helps drive most industrial as well as home based activities. The process that leads to production of the world’s largest energy provider, Oil, however has continued to receive criticism. This is so since production of Gasoline, Natural Gas, Kerosene as well as other components present in crude oil leads to some forms of environmental pollution. This has led to devastating climatic changes around the world which has in turn led to loss of lives and property. In the course of transporting crude oil to refinery stations, cases of oil spillages into oceans and other water bodies occur. The result is water pollution as well as death of
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Mitchell, 98).
Oil companies operate in defined regions where oil exploration and possible drilling is done. However some companies such as Shell BP engage in international drilling and distribution of oil products. Below are some of the most renowned oil companies in their constituent continents: Africa: Sasol of South of South Africa and National Petroleum Company of Congo. In Asia some of the leading oil companies include Nobel Group and the Bahrain Oil Company. It is important to note that Asia has a lot of oil resources and hence have extensive oil drilling activities. In Europe we have Partex oil and Gas Company, in South America three is Bridas Corporation based in Argentina. North America has one of the most advanced technology in the oil industry. These companies have extended their activities around the globe in a bid to discover more oil resources to sustain future energy requirements. Some North America companies include Shell Oil Company and the Apache Corporation. This paper will focus on the importance of oil companies over and above the problems that they pose to the environment as well as the political stability of the world. For practical examples I chose to use the state of Alaska where oil companies have based their operations as a case study.
Role of Oil Companies in an Economy
(a) Powering Industrial Activities
Oil companies form the petroleum industry
Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the
Monopolies have been around America since its beginning. Some of the first monopolies are the reason for America’s advancement that lead us to become one of the greatest countries in the world. But, what is a monopoly? The book, Economics: Private and Public Choice defined it as “a market structure characterized by (1) a single seller of a well-defined product for which there are no good substitutes and (2) high barriers to the entry of any other firms into the market for that product,” (Gwartney, Glossary). Though, the laws of the land are in place to help the government ensure that big business will not control certain industries again. Looking forward to present time, we are now seeing similarities between the big business monopolies of
In the United States oil consumption is an everyday occurrence, for every citizen. Our country without oil would not be able to function properly within all aspects of life. Our political, transportation and economics systems would all encounter drastic affects if there were no oil to transform into petroleum. Due to our huge dependency on petroleum products, oil companies like British Petroleum (BP), Exxon Mobil, and Saudi Aramco hold extreme power over many countries and make billions off our need to live our daily lives. The extraction of oil from these companies are causing life altering effects for future generations, by causing major environmental complications. Each of the three main oil companies have experienced oil spills that were damaging to the environments around them and gain the global attention, because of the size of the oils spills and the lack of effort to accurately clean the spills.
Oil is a very important fossil fuel that is used for various sources of energy. Oil supplies power to industries, fuel for transportation, heat for buildings, and provides raw material for plastics, paints, textiles, and other materials (hybrid cars). To access this fossil fuel, oil drilling is used. Land-based oil drilling became less productive and as the global stipulation for energy increased, technology, law, and geology impacts stepped in and pushed the exploration of oil away from shores (CITE). With its historical background, offshore oil drilling is one of the most important aspects of today’s economy although we are faced with its risks and consequences, such as the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion of the Gulf of Mexico.
Throughout history, humans have had many adverse effects on the ocean. However, in the past century, a new threat to the ocean has arisen. Oils spills are one of the most dangerous human effects on the ocean, partly because they’re so difficult to reverse after they’ve happened, and because many of the chemicals that get released into the water are extremely toxic to a lot of creatures. Oil spills are usually caused by two ships colliding with each other, a ship colliding with another object, or as in the case of the BP oil spill, an explosion.
At some point in our daily activities, we all draw upon a reserve of one or more of earth's natural resources, One of the most crucial of these being crude oil. It and its derivatives are used as primary sources of energy and thus, crude oil it is constantly in high demand. In order to meet this demand in the most economical fashion, oil companies have made offshore drilling into a common practice. However, offshore drilling is devastating to the environment in several ways. As a result of the equipment and methods used to extract the oil, high levels of pollution are released into the ocean, disturbing nearby ecosystems. Secondly, the high level of drilling is consistently
The first section sets the foundation for Roberts’ discussion by discussing the current environment surrounding the oil business. According to Roberts, energy is related to flourishing and decline of the human race. Only when a community has the ability to provide enough energy to meet the demand of the population can that community thrive (Roberts 2004). Roberts argues this correlation explains how and why the international community has become dependent on oil. The second section discusses the present situation and introduces what Roberts calls the energy order, which is a term that describes a social hierarchical ranking of countries based off of their energy consumption, their ability to produce or access to oil. The third and final part combines the discussion of parts one and two in relation to the future. Roberts argues that the current model with currently have is not working and offers a discussion on transitioning to a new model with less demand for oil. In order for this to occur, the United States, which consumes the most energy annually and has enough political and economic influence, must lead the way (Roberts
The purpose of this report is to investigate the problems of oil spills around the wide globe, and determine the effects made environmentally, socially and economically and possibly find a solution to prevent this matter.
Despite the positive development of oil and gas industry in this last decade, there is something more valuable have been put on the line. The environment needs to pay for every single mistake made by the human. One of the greatest mistakes in humankind history is an oceanic oil spill. It has become a major environmental problem that the world is facing right now. History has shown how this problem could go. From the first major commercial spill of 1967 in the United Kingdom, up to the most recent one, at BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig, that leaked thousands barrel of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April 2010. Most large-scale oil spills have been disastrous and the marine wildlife is still recovering. Hence, the tension for a better cleanup technology increases.
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, mankind has increasingly become reliant on fossil fuels such as oil for energy. Oil fuels our car, warms our homes, generates our electricity, and creates a myriad of goods including everything that contains plastic. In our global economy, oil must be transported great distances to reach markets throughout the world. With seemingly increasing frequency, these journeys sometimes end in accidents that result in oil being spilled into the ocean. The most devastating oil spill, The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred on April twentieth of this year.
It is widely known that oil industry has been the economic backbone to the United States, as this industry promises lucrative income for the country. The industry also raises concern on the negative effect it has to the Earth and its environments. One of the emerging oil industries today is the Arctic oil industry. There are many debates about the pros and cons of Arctic oil drilling industry. The debates are not only happening in the oil industry but also among politicians, scholars, citizens and environmentalists. The industry promises a bright prospect for America to achieve energy independence. Oil Company has been requesting for lease extension from the government,
The damage, caused by the transportation of oil is strongly associated with pollution of the World Ocean. With the increasing oil production in the 20th century, its transportation all over the world proceeded mostly by the sea. Despite the fact that the transportation of oil is a rather safe movement, the extent of traffic and size of tankers is the reason of many accidents, which always have a huge implication. In the years 1970-1985 there were 186 cases of oil spills, each of more than 1,300 tons. In 1989, the tanker "Exxon Valdez" ran aground off the coast of Alaska, releasing 39,000 tones of crude oil what formed an oil slick covering an area of 3000 square kilometers. That caused the irreparable harm to the environment (Oil and Chemical Spills/Significant Incidents, NOAA's Ocean Service).
Oil is a natural resource obtained by drilling underground. It is used in a variety of ways in our daily lives; heating our homes, running automobiles, and being used as the topic of a college report.It has multiple roles in our daily lives being involved in heating our homes, running automobiles and providing a topic for college students to write a report on. Many parts of crude oil are not harmful to the environment but some parts of it are (4) It is composed of hydrocarbons. which naturally occur in nature, which means that there are naturally occurring microorganisms with the ability to break down these hydrocarbons. (8) That being the case, when large quantities of oil are unnaturally released into the environment it needs to be cleaned up in a timely manner so as to lessen the impact on animals living in the environment.
Since the past few decades, owning a car has become a necessity in order to commute from one place to another. However, cars do not work automatically, they require fuel. Since the past decade, the petroleum industry has become one of the leading industries impacting the nation’s economy. Oil has become an essential commodity as it is utilized in transportation vehicles, serves as a raw material for manufacturing plastics, and is utilized in homes for cooking. America’s economy is greatly dependent on petroleum as it is the “black gold” of the nation. The considerable significance of oil has led to the drilling of it, which is not only limited to land, but also the oceans. Offshore drilling is a method in which petroleum is extracted from underneath the seabed. It is one of the significant technological advancements in the past few decades. However, the ones who are involved in the process of offshore oil production are humans, and humans tend to make mistakes. In 1969, due to a human error, an oil spill occurred and natural gas, oil, and mud shot up the well and oozed into the ocean (“Offshore Drilling”). The oil spilled led to an environmental disaster which killed thousands of marine animals and distorted the environment. In order to prevent the same error, the government passed a moratorium in 1981, banning more than 85 percent of the country’s oil drilling sites (“Offshore Drilling”). The moratorium restricted the United States to mass-produce its natural resource.
The significance of oil and natural gas in modern civilization is well known. Nevertheless, like most production activities, oil and gas production processes generate large volumes of liquid waste. Discharging produced water can pollute surface and underground water and soil. As regards the significant matter of environmental concern, many countries have implemented more stringent regulatory standards for discharging produced water. Because large volumes of produced water are being generated, many countries with oilfields are increasingly focused on efforts to find efficient and cost-effective treatment methods to remove pollutants as a way to protect their limited fresh water resources. In this research I will give information about environmental impacts caused by produced water, current produced water management practices, produced water quality characterization