Essays on Oil Spills

A critical Evaluation of the response to Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Introduction The oil industry plays a significant role in providing the oil used as fuel in other major industries that drive the economy. Due diligence and utmost care are among the guiding principles that regulate the industry as any problem may have adverse effects on the environment as well as human and animal life. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, the oil spillage sometimes occurs with devastating results on the seabed and the animal life that lives under the waters. The Deepwater Horizon is one of the worst accidents that happened in the oil production and processing industry. It happened ...

British Petroleum is a multinational corporation that was founded in 1908. It initially had its single wells in the remote parts of Persia. The company slowly grew and within eight years it became one of the largest businesses in the world. It has been broadly divided into three main subsections that include oil exploration and production; gas, power, renewables and oil refining; and marketing section. All these departments work together to ensure that the company achieves its objectives. Since 1995, the company has been in the capable hands of John Browne, who has been its CEO until his untimely ...

Introduction

Climate change is among the significant factors impacting ecological diversity on a worldwide scale. The growth of industries and the increasing human population globally have resulted in a rise in the volume of greenhouse gasses, which scientists have argued are the greatest contributors to the menace. The Florida Keys is one of the ecological treasures of the U.S. that continues to be impacted negatively by climate change and anthropogenic activities. This ecological treasure, which is located at the tip of the state of Florida, comprises about 1,700 islands that stretch for more than 200 miles to the west ...

Abstract

The current discussion is aimed at the dissection of ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability of British Petroleum (BP) by taking the case of Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in to consideration. By commencing the discussion with an overview of the externalities present in the oil industry, the pressures on oil companies are examined which is further evaluated through the application of stakeholder theory and the theory of utilitarianism. In the case of BP, it is revealed that the resort to CSR was primarily a reactive measure to correct its tainted brand image and save it from reputational risks. ...

Internal analysis of Enbridge Inc.

Introduction Enbridge Inc. a distribution and transportation of energy company operating in the United States and Canada. The company is divided into five segments to facilitate its operations and achieve its long-term corporate objectives. The sections include Liquids Pipelines; Gas Distribution; Sponsored Investments and Corporate and Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services (Finance.yahoo.com, 2016). The company operates a common carrier through the Liquids Pipelines segment by contrasting natural gas liquids, refined products, and crude oil pipelines as well as terminals. The Gas Distribution Segment is a natural gas utility serving industrial, commercial and residential customers in Quebec, New York, ...

Program Goal # 1

Upon completion of the Public Safety Administration Program, students will have demonstrated the acquisition of the ability to apply appropriate strategies to manage, supervise, and lead public safety administration departments and staff.

Evidence

Issues about public safety are of great concern to the communities. Communities and individuals are exposed to various environmental hazards. If nothing is done to uphold safety standards, communities and individuals suffer. People who are concerned with ensuring that the public thrives in safe conditions are therefore expected to be knowledgeable about various issues surrounding public safety. Being a potential officer involved in safety issues in the ...

Abstract

Environmental pollution is among the hotly debated topics in the field of environmental studies. Contamination of this kind ranges from that of water, soil, and air. Industrialization and large organizations have been reported to be the primary sources of pollution across the world. Chevron, a leading multinational energy corporation, has in the recent past been accused and charged for heavy soil and water contamination through oil spills. Such environmental pollution has substantial consequences on the human health, safety, and well being. Van Duzer et al. (2015) assert that one of the most affected nations through the company’s activities ...

Letter of Transmittal

Richard Albert Sylvester Management Consultant Lamplighters Corporation Ottawa K I P 5B5 Phone: 613-563-1509 www.lamplightres.ca The Right Honorable Justin P.J. Trudeau

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

RE: Project Suitability Report on the Proposed Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline Project Dear Right Honorable Prime Minister, It is with great pleasure and honor that I submit this report on the suitability of the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline project. The Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline project proposal by Kinder Morgan aims at increasing the current capacity of the existing Trans Mountain oil pipeline. Currently, the existing infrastructure has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per ...

The phenomenon of pollution is not a new one as there are different forms of pollution prevailing in our environment. There are various types of pollution and most of them are interrelated. This paper will delineate some of the major types of pollution and the remedial measures to minimize the pollution. Some of the major types of pollution that would be expounded are as follows: air pollution, specifically, caused by the burning of fossil fuels and coal, and water pollution. As such, measures to minimize and control these types of pollution, including the concepts of “Green Transportation” and “Renewable ...

The phenomenon of pollution is not a new one as there are different forms of pollution prevailing in our environment. There are various types of pollution and most of them are interrelated. This paper will delineate some of the major types of pollution and the remedial measures to minimize the pollution. The scientists have declared that the burning of the fossil fuels coal and petroleum results in the production of the carbon dioxide as one of the most major products of greenhouse gasses. Another reason for an increase in air pollution is the high amount of saturation of CFC’ ...

Introduction

Global warming and pollution has led companies to rethink their activities concerning green methods of production. Carbon dioxide emissions are the leading cause of global warming and the dangers of global warming have been documented for a long time. Governments have come up with restrictions on emissions, which have forced companies to re-think the way they do production. Quest carbon capture and storage project is one example of how companies are re-thinking their strategy and practice towards carbon emissions. This project is developed by Shell for its Athabasca oil sands project (AOSP) in Alberta. It is the first carbon capture ...

Incentives to Conserve Marine Biodiversity

Practitioners of marine biodiversity conservation are progressively turning to approaches based on incentives. They hope it is going to persuade people to modify behaviors that negatively affect natural habitat and marine biodiversity. The government took too long to get involved, but now they are. More hope is visible as far as saving marine life is the discussion. The essay discusses incentives to conserve marine biodiversity within the framework of impure public goods by analyzing externalities, technology and economic incentives involved.

Impure Public Goods

Goods that are consumed by everyone in society or no one at all are referred to as public goods. ...

Chevron Petroleum is a multinational energy company headquartered in California, USA. Chevron ranks among the six top most oil companies in the world. The corporation is actively operating in about 180 countries. The company is engaged in the various aspects of energy production; these aspects include geothermal, oil, and gas. The company undertakes power generation, exploration, refining, production, chemicals manufacture, transport and marketing.

Chevron is considered the third-largest oil producer in Nigeria and it is one of the largest private investors in Nigeria. The corporation operates as a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. This venture operates in the ...

Introduction

The Deep Water Horizon is one of the most compelling disasters that have ever been recorded in the US in so far as oil spills and fire tragedies are concerned. The explosion had far-reaching implications because the spills negatively condemned the immediate environment and effectively rendered most of the people not employed because of the manifestations of the disaster. The spill majorly affected the ocean to the extent that the aqua system was put in jeopardy because of the oil infiltration. This team compromising of Dustin, Adrianna, Daniel and Mohammed seeks to analyze the problem and its implications not ...

Schlumberger Limited

Problem Solving Schlumberger Limited Schlumberger Limited is an American Company that operates in the oil industry. The company is the world's biggest oilfield services company that is present in over 85 countries across the globe. The company has principle offices in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Netherlands to coordinate its global operations. Schlumberger limited was started in 1926 by two French brothers who initially dealt with electrical related operations. However, the company has since diversified and has many interests in oil industry services whereby it mainly deals with seismic acquisition and processing, well ...

List of Figures

Figure 1 Torrey canyon supertanker and surrounded with oil spills 6 Figure 2 A-Geographical location of the disaster. B-Route at the time of accident 9 Figure 3Torrey Canyon and Air strike: World’s first ever environmental disaster 11 Figure 4 :The Renown Torrey quarry 11 Figure 5: Dead bird in Torrey Canyon query 12 Figure 6Plumes emitting from burning Torrey Canyon 13

Abstract

On 18th March 1967, the ship Torrey Canyon, carrying a load of 120000 tons of crude oil dashed against Pollard's Rock of the reef of Seven Stones near Cornwall, England. The resultant oil ...

Apart from the common marine spills, the oil spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to let-off of petroleum products from tankers, and offshore platforms spill of already refined products such as petrol, kerosene, and by-products. Heavy products used by large ships include airplane fuels, the spill of any oily refuse and the waste oil. These oil spills are common in most parts of the world such as Kuwait, United States, Kern County, California, Iraq, Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Mexico. Other places are Trinidad and Tobago, Uzbekistan, Iran, parts of Africa such as ...

Green supply chain management

Green or sustainable supply chain management. According to Ageron et al. (2011), green supply chain management is the transparent, strategic, integration and achievement of an organization’s social, environmental, and economic objectives in the systematic coordination of key inter-organization business performance of the firm and its supply chain partners. Ageron et al. (2011) argue that helping other players in the chain is an important as other players will understand the importance of resolving the environmental and social problems. Supporting each member in the supply chain is, therefore, important in any supply chain as all members of the chain will ...

Abstract

Keystone XL Pipeline is a project proposed that is expected to offer energy security to the US and strengthen its economy. The crude oil pipeline is expected to cover 1,897 kilometers and estimated to be of 36 inches in diameter. The pipeline is expected to run from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele city in Nebraska. The pipeline is also expected to improve the American economy by opening up the American Midwest markets and the markets found along the Gulf Coast of the US. The Keystone system consists of different operational phases that include phase I, II and III, the Gulf ...

executive Summary The following report is about sustainability issues related to Smithfield/Wetherill Business Park and provides recommendations about fixing these issues for our client, Fairfield City Council (FCC). The Smithfield-Wetherill business park has a manufacturing and wholesale/retail unit and accounts to be the largest industrial estate in the southern hemisphere. The report defines what sustainability is in terms of economic, political, environmental and social goals and what impact do they have on each other. This report does not instruct the client what to do, but rather makes suggestions based on observations and discussions with the managers and business ...

- Global Statistics on Oil Spill and the Nigeria River Delta Despite recent advancements in shipbuilding technology, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has become one of the most recently publicized environmental fiascos in 2010. In the 1970s the number of oil tanker accidents has decreased significantly (i.e. below 138,000 tons of oil inputs in the ocean). The results were even better in 2009 where the amount of oil entering the ocean is estimated at about 63,000 tons (Jernelov, 2010). However, mishaps in tankers are not the only source of oil spill in ...

Impacts of Energy East Pipeline Project from Alberta to Quebec

A set of pipes called “conduits” that is used for the conveyance of air, water, gas, or any liquid petroleum products is called pipeline. Piping is used for various industrial (process), marine, transportation, domestic and commercial plumbing purposes. Much of its fabrication comprised of welded, screwed carbon steel piping and pipe fittings. Transportation piping is normally had large diameter and used to convey liquids, slurries, gases over hundreds of kilometers. The pipeline project between Alberta and Quebec is termed as “Energy East Pipeline" and having length of about 4600 Kilometer. That was planned to carry more than 1 million ...

Introduction

A scientific study was conducted to evaluate the effects of crude oil on different nitrifying prokaryotes. The researchers utilized ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea to develop a bioassay. The study evaluated the ecological responses of these two groups of microorganisms on marine oil spills. Researchers found inhibition of nitrite production in all tested ammonia-oxidizing micro-organisms. The paper highlights the impact of crude oil spills on the environment. The paper also demonstrates the effects of phytoremediation to treat the oil spills. Many scientific studies had been conducted to evaluate the effects of phytoremediation (Using Nitrosopumilus maritimus and Nitrosococcus oceani) for crude oil ...

The Valdez Oil Spill and the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill

Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker ship that measured 987 feet, this tanker had an oil spill on 24th of March 1989 in Prince William Sound of Alaska. This oil spill, at that time was deemed “the most devastating human caused accident, which shook every pillar of the environmental ecosystem.” (Raunekk and Swagatam, 2010). Another oil spill occurred in recent future events that cause devastating damage to the environment, on the 20th of April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spills according to Sevhoo (2013), are caused, at least ...

[University affiliation] The Gulf war between Iraq and Kuwait in 1990-1991 led to an increase in petrol price and affected both The US and the EU negatively The economic objectives of every nation are stabilization of the economy, keeping the level of inflation and unemployment below the target rate (Carbaugh, 2012, p.481). All of the governments pursue these goals given the large abundance of external factors that affect the macroeconomic policies of the state. The main concepts for the determination of economic growth are of course the growth of Gross Domestic Product, which is comprised of Aggregate ...

Executive Summary for ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips is an American multinational dealing with energy. The Houston, Texas-based company ranks among the world’s Fortune 500 companies and is the world’s largest independent pure-play exploration and production companies. The company explores for, produces, transports and markets bitumen, Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs), Liquefied natural Gas (LNG) and crude oil around the world. ConocoPhillips came into being following the merger of Phillips Petroleum Company and Conoco Inc. in 2002. In 2012, the company had a revenue of US$62 billion, more than 16,900 employees and was producing about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. It currently ...

Introduction3

Statistics.3 Offshore oil drilling4 Effects on the environment.7 Recommended solutions10 Conclusion.13

Works Cited14

Abstract Today, the United States has over 5600 offshore gas and oil platforms; there are also over 27,000 miles of pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico area alone. This shows the extent to which offshore oil drilling occurs in the United States. In other developed parts of the world, the situation is the same. Oil is a product on high demand; this facilitates efforts in extracting it form its deposits deep in the sea floor. The retrieval requires the use of sophisticated equipment ...

Abstract

Gulf Mexico oil spill also known as the Deep-water Horizon oil spill, BP Oil Disaster or the Macondo Blowout is considered to be the largest oil spill in the history of mankind. Such oil spills cause a lot of environmental as well as economic damages. Laws are in place to urge oil drilling companies to keep provisionary measures on the face of such disasters. But many situations went wrong causing a massive oil spill, a part of which still floats around in the seas. The following article is a discussion of the Gulf Mexico BP Oil Spill incident and what could have been ...

Identification of water pollution in Denver Co Rivers

Water in Denver Co Rivers need to be conserved from the various pollutants that pollute it. There is need to eradicate E. coli bacteria and nutrients pollution which has been detected in Denver Co Rivers from a recently conducted research. It is important to note that no oil or gas pollution has been detected in the water. This research took samples in 29 locations in eight rivers in the flood zone. The highest levels of E. coli were detected in Big Thompson and Boulder Creek river watershed. Other areas with high levels of E. coli are areas in the South ...

(Nigeria vs. Shell)

Abstract

This is a proposal for a research on the topic ‘The Effect of Oil Exploration and Drilling in the Niger Delta (Nigeria vs. Shell)’. It seeks to introduce the reader to the topic of the research in addition to providing a preliminary review of literature. It highlights the proposed methodology and provides a provisional questionnaire for the formed for the purpose of data collection and analysis. 1 Introduction The topic chosen for this research is ‘The Effect of Oil Exploration and Drilling in the Niger Delta (Nigeria vs. Shell)’. The research aims to provide a more comprehensive, unbiased understanding ...

A Case Study of the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract British Pteroleum’s Deepwater Horizon disaster was the worst oil spill in American history. Such was the magnitude of this disaster that its repercussions were felt throughout the global oil industry. In the aftermath of the spill, investigations were conducted into the incident to identify the causes that led to the spill, the reasons behind the poor response to the disaster, as well as to formulate ways in which safety standards could be improved so as to prevent similar disasters from taking place in the future. This study reviewed extensive literature pertaining to the prevalent Health, Safety ...

Introduction

Hurricane Katrina and hurricane Sandy both were the deadliest and costliest hurricanes to have ever lashed upon the United States. Both surfaced in the US during the active hurricane seasons. Both were extremely devastating hurricanes followed by storm surge and flooding which led to a widespread damage across the affected areas, killing people, leaving people homeless and shutting down some of the big cities of US. Hurricane Katrina initiated on a westward path, moving on to Florida and then Gulf coast while hurricane Sandy took its pace on a northward path before landing on the eastern coast of USA. All the devastation ...

What is water

Water is one of the most important sources of our life. The human body consists of from 78% to 55% water, depending on body size. All living things need water even more than food; hence, water is very valuable resource. Water covers over 70 percent of the earth, 96.5% of all water in our planet is in oceans. But only 2% of all Earth's water is drinkable ( ga.water.usgs.gov). In fact, people need water to drink, to wash our hands, to cook, in industrial use and many other things. Any changes in water quality adversely affect living organisms or make ...

Introduction

Texaco, an oil company of American origin was founded in Beaumont, Texas. The flagship product of the company is its fuel, known as “Texaco with Techron”. The company also owns another brand of motor oil, Havoline. The company has used technology in order to expand its business empire. The company has been in the business of oil exploration and extraction in various regions of the world. As such, the company has used different technologies in order to pump oil from deep seated sources in the earths crust. The use of such technology causes environmental degradation to a great extent. ...

Gulf of Mexico oil spill is one of the largest naval oil spill occurred in the history of oil industry. The accident took place in April 2010 in Gulf of Mexico where British Petroleum was operating. The explosion cost life of eleven people working on the location and injured various other people. The oil spill from the well for three consecutive months and exploded around 4.9 million barrel crude oil in the sea. After the incident the oil well was declared un-operational by the central government. The oil released during the accident spread over a large area and cost for ...

CHAPTER III

Introduction The high incidence of oil spills have led to the adoption of different clean up techniques that help in the remediation process. However, the adoption of a specific method for the remediation of oil spill requires the systematic reviewing of the different literatures available and meta-analysed by the researchers. According to Graham (2010), the range of the different clean-up efforts varies widely depending on a number of factors that include oil type and density, water temperature, the volume of spill, proximity to shorelines, waves, currents, weather and speed of response among others. The systematic reviewing of the research studies ...

1.0 Introduction The explosion of British Petroleum’s (BP’s) Macondo well in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico on the 20th of April the year 2010 is by far the largest accidental oil spill ever to be experienced in the universe. The fact that the oil spill occurred in a record period of three months demonstrates the magnitude of the spill. In fact, empirical evidence has ascertained that the oil spill as a result of the explosion far exceeds the one that was experienced as result of the combined effects of the Ixtoc blow out of the ...

Executive Summary

Royal Dutch Shell is a global fossil fuel exploration, production and transport company. The balance sheet of Shell is in the black. They have made successful changes in order to stream line a top heavy employment hierarchy. They are optimistic and positive about their new locations for extracting gas as the easy oil pools from drilling are being used up. The problem I see is that they are using extraction methods that cost more than the efforts for extraction. If pollution clean-up and health costs of local populations are added to the calculations the Shell balance sheet, unfortunately would not show a ...

The endangered basking sharks

Richard & Charles (2000) define an endangered species as one that may become extinct if measures are not taken to avert the situation. Endangered species have a small population and are often affected by human or natural environmental changes leading to their demise and eventual extinction. Sharks as an endangered species have in the recent past elicited reactions from animal conservationists, who have staged demonstrations against the intrusion of human life activities that have led to the decline of the different species of sharks. Richard & Charles (2000) note that sharks reproduce in small numbers thus putting them in great ...

An examination of the biotic and early history of the environment and the dilemma facing the modern world calls for the need to explore and discover the factors that cause harm. Over the years, the human race has been evolving and with so an entirely new understanding of energy utilization and output, therefore, introducing the use of fossil energy to meet their needs. This has caused natural hazards over the centuries. As such, the human race migrated instead of facing the consequences, but in this day, such a measure is difficult to incorporate. The understanding that these catastrophes are caused ...

Introduction

Drilling for oil is a hazardous job that can sometimes created massive environmental disaster. Because of the high marketable profit that oil offers safety laws are ignore at crucial times. Consequently, oil spills among other accidents happened destroying ecosystems, harming animal life and sometimes human loses. Oil spills not only harm animal life but can also destroy the economy of a given region and create physical and psychological problems for the residents of those areas. Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is one among many spills that have become history because of its horrific effect on animal ...