Business & Society

The offshore oil industry has a large presence in Louisiana. The state is one of only six that allow coastal drilling. Only one state, Texas, plays host to more oil rigs than Louisiana does. A...

Although there are many types of pollution and sources, industry has contributed its share over the last couple hundred years. Industrial pollution can include air pollution like carbon dioxide,...

It's common knowledge that Eucalyptus leaves provide the koala with its main food source, but they are also valuable for more than wildlife survival. Eucalyptus leaves have been used for centuries...

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), nearly 14,000 oil spills occur each year. This figure represents the amount of spills reported. Cleanup of oil spills on inland lakes...

Economists study the ways in which societies allocate limited resources to meet unlimited wants. Because most energy production involves the use of finite, non-renewable resources, such as fossil...

In order to pump oil, several geological elements must fall into place, including the right rocks, a well-formed reservoir and a trap. A trap keeps the oil from leaking away. Geologists study...

Alaska Natives began using oil seeps in prehistoric times. Not until 1902 did Alaska's first oil well, at Katalla Bay southeast of Cordova, begin production.

Petroleum engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with the development and exploitation of natural gas and crude oil fields. The field began in the 1890s in California with mining...

According to the Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, a "windfall profits" tax is a tax leveled by a government on profits that it deems unusually or unfairly large. Large profits are dubbed...

Energy sector companies produce and supply energy. This includes companies that explore for and pump oil and natural gas; mine coal, develop and produce alternative energy and transport fuel and...

Several factors are involved in oil drilling. Decisions about whether or not to drill entail financial, technological and security considerations. Economic and environmental effects are also...

Oil spills are one of the biggest sources of water pollution. Although most people may conjure up images of the Exxon-Valdez when they hear the term, the reality is most oil dumped into the ocean...

Oil shale is any sedimentary rock that contains kerogen, a mixture of organic compounds. When kerogen is present in high levels, crude oil can be released from the rock through pyrolysis, an...

Fossil fuels are a term used to describe hydrocarbons that are created by the decomposition of organic material. Current scientific belief is that oil, natural gas, coal and other hydrocarbons...

Worldwide, more than 80 million barrels of oil are consumed each day. To feed that demand, oil must be pumped from any source available. One of the most plentiful sources of oil is found beneath...

Crude oil comes from decomposed organic remains and must be pumped to the surface from deep recesses of the Earth's crust. These pockets of "black gold" are located beneath the sea and in...

Petroleum economic analysis studies world oil prices as well as the economic, political and other forces that influence those prices.

The United States uses a wide range of energy sources to keep its vehicles moving; its buildings lighted, heated and cooled; and the wheels of industry moving forward. But even with advances in...

Chevron Corporation is an integrated non-government energy company headquartered in San Ramon, California. Present in more than 100 countries, it is involved in every facet of the oil and gas...

The world at large is still smarting from 2008's spectacular run up in oil prices towards $150 per barrel. The record oil prices translated into $4 gasoline in the U.S. and sparked mass outrage....

BP PLC is the third largest global energy company, and according to a 2009 Forbes list, the world's fifth largest company. Its headquarters are in London. The company started in 1909, a year...

Oil prices play an important economic and political indicator for major developed nations.

About 90 percent of the world's energy is supplied by the three major types of fossil fuel--coal, oil, and natural gas. As the world economy grows and our energy needs increase, our dependence on...

Oil spills are perhaps the most harmful side effect of the oil industry. Images of birds and fish coated in black goo provide a haunting reminder of the inherent dangers in transporting crude oil.

The first modern method of oil drilling developed by Edwin L. Drake in 1859 is still being used to this day, though the increased demand for petroleum products has required more efficient means of...

Offshore drilling is done by rigs designed to remain steady in gulf and ocean waters. These specialized rigs drill wells and insert piping in water depths of 200 to 400 feet to bring oil and...

The Aborigines of Australia considered eucalyptus a "cure all," an opinion that the world at large has come to share, based on the demand for eucalyptus products for medicinal, aromatic and...

Bio-oil treatment is composed of PurCellin Oil,™ a laboratory duplication of the oil produced by ducks to preen their feathers. PurCellin Oil ™ is unique because it is nongreasy yet...

During bad times and good, there will be foreigners who will want to start a business in Dubai, a Middle Eastern financial hub in the oil-rich country of the United Arab Emirates. Starting a...

Benzene is a chemical that is formed as a result of incompletely burned natural products. It is found in volcanoes, forest fires, cigarette smoke, gasoline and crude oil. It may be colorless or...

A central concept of systems theory is that various elements that comprise a system are linked, and that changes to one part will affect the system as a whole. Input-output analysis applies a...

The damage caused by a single oil spill can boggle the mind. According to the Air and Waste Management Association, one quart of oil can contaminate up to 15,000 gallons of water. In the days...

Drilling for oil affects the environment at every stage of the process, from finding oil reserves to waste disposal. Marine life, birds, terrestrial wildlife and workers are all affected, as well...

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the true giants of industry, a century-old multinational leader in the energy industry. BP has long been a favorite of investors, and in the years following 2000,...

Oil is a commodity like any other commodity. Oil futures contracts are like any other commodities futures contract. You can enter into futures contracts on corn, orange juice, soybeans, corn,...

The oil industry has profound environmental effects from all phases of the oil recovery process. From exploration to drilling to transport to end user consumption, oil pollutes the air, land and...

Across the globe, the most widely traded physical commodity is crude oil. The standard-size sweet crude oil futures contract consistently has the highest volume of trading activity based on a...

From its beginnings in 1887 to its ability to be seen from space, the history of the offshore drilling industry has pioneered technologies, built the tallest structures on earth, been the subject...

Since the 1908 discovery of oil in present-day Iran, British Petroleum has been a leading player in the global energy market. The London-based multinational is the world's third-largest energy...

"Fossil fuels" is the umbrella term applied to set fuel sources that were created through a combination of the decomposition of plant and animal matter, heat and pressure beneath the earth. The...

Home-heating oil and gasoline are products produced from crude oil. Gasoline is used far more widely than home-heating oil, which is used mainly in the Northeastern U.S. Gasoline is subject to...

Oil drilling is the process by which tubing is bored through the Earth's surface and a well is established. A pump is connected to the tube and the petroleum under the surface is forcibly removed...

Biodiesel fuel is diesel fuel made from sources other than petroleum. Most biodiesel is made from corn, soybean and animal fat oil. Commercially, farmers grow crops and extract the oils to produce...

Commodity markets are, simply put, markets that track the price of real commodities, or valuable trading items. Like the stock market, investors watch trends in commodities to attempt to buy low...

Used oil undergoes a pretreatment step in the overall recycling process. The recycled oil is dewatered to get rid of its water content. The main tool used to dewater oil is gravity. The process...

While heralded as the cutting-edge technology for future oil production, making biofuel is a remarkably straightforward process. The difficulty is in mass-production, with prohibitively expensive...

The cost for biodiesel varies widely, depending on how it is produced and what it is produced with. Homemade biodiesel using recycled oil is quite cheap, while commercial, high-quality biodiesel...

Society is becoming more aware of the damage that we cause to the environment. More than ever before, toxins are present in all types of products, from the insecticide on our food to the toxic...

In the United States, the possibility of more oil drilling tends to generate controversy. Opponents worry about negative environmental effects, while proponents cite independence from foreign oil....

Oil and gas are the preeminent sources of energy for the modern world. Without an abundant supply continually being found, extracted, refined and transmitted by pipe or ship to the world, we would...