The Refinery at the End of the World. The Scales of Capitalism and the Environmental Issue in the French Refinery Project of Brest, 1966–1974

The Enemy Within: Oil in the Niger Delta

The study argues about inevitable social responsibilities and challenges faced by the oil companies. Smog in the inner cities, oil spillage, chemical disposal, climate changes, environmental pollution, local recruitment and toxic wastes are mammoth challenges for oil and gas companies to face. Oil industry has to respond to the environmental issues in general and climate changes in particular, because the ultimate goal of the business is to maximize the profit and also contribute to the social welfare of the community. The research paper contains different motivational theories in order to persuade the oil companies to consider their social obligation towards the nation. Two dimensions of the social responsibilities are hereby submitted. First, development of environment friendly strategies. Second, allocating financial resources for community development to establish schools, medical and other welfare units for the society in order to contribute to sustainable economic development. Oil and gas companies have to devise ways and means for the benefit of the community from indigenous gas and oil projects. Introduction Companies consider corporate social responsibility as a voluntary act, not mandates by law, to work for the welfare of the community and share with them benefits extractd from their indigenous resources. Oil companies have to determine the welfare of its stakeholders on the priority basis in order to ensure healthy environment within the premises. Oil Industry is considered as the backbone of any economy as it extracts revenue from earth and can contribute huge revenue to Gross National Production (GNP). While working in any economy, oil companies either from domestic environment or international are required to fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibilities and prove themselves as good corporate citizens. From time to time, oil companies are blamed for not paying proper attention to the community in which they operate their business and generate revenues. Earlier, when people had no awareness of the Corporate Social Responsibilities, they didn't raise objections, but with the passage of time, when awareness developed among the masses, objections raised from every corner against lack of concern on the part of oil companies for the welfare of community. Two dimension of Social responsibility are very mandatory to submit here; 1. Development of Environment Friendly Strategies Oil companies should acknowledge their obligation towards the health of the community that should not be affected by the oil industry. Toxic and hazardous waste claims lives of so many people who are living in the surrounding. The dispose of toxic waste in the river Indus claimed so many lives in the Hyderabad and also created water problems in the district. Smog in the inner cities, oil spillage, chemical disposal, environmental pollution etc: are major concerns to face oil industry. Majority of respondents submitted that toxic wastes are not disposed of with the consent of the local community. Due to smog in the cities, many accidents occur specially in the morning time. At present, global warming is a serious subject of discussion among the community. Increasing global warming causes to melt the glaciers before the time and creates problems like water shortage, flood etc. oil industry is also blamed for creating environmental problems for the society. Oil industry should take precautionary measure to protect environment and safeguard the health of the community. A healthy sign in this connection is that majority of oil production and Service Companies are revamping their environmental strategies in order to lessen the risk of polluting the natural environment. Many companies are nowadays trying to establish waste management system in order to dispose of the waste safely and with the consent of local people. Increasing waste is alarming for oil companies as it creates severe environmental and health problems for the people. During the exploration and production of oil and gas, and the refining, manufacturing and marketing of products, company use a range of natural and manufactured materials which generate solid and liquid waste which adversely affect the environment and health of the people. Where the waste is unavoidable and cannot be reduced or reused, it must be disposed of properly. Many companies have waste system to assure disposal or recycling of wastes properly without causing losses for community.

Public health accomplishments have dramatically improved children's lives. Sanitation programs, vaccines, better nutrition, surveillance and monitoring of disease, and the development of antibiotics have led to extraordinary reductions in infant and child mortality.1 Ambulatory pediatricians have contributed, through research, teaching, and advocacy, and especially through the delivery of improved medical care to this dramatic trend. Despite these advances, children are in trouble:

Sweetness and Power - Public Policies and the ‘Biofuels Frenzy’

The oil and gas industry plays a very important role in efforts to meet the needs of the world community in this modern era. In Indonesia, the oil and gas industry, or what we often know as the OIL and Gas industry has developed very rapidly. Jobs in the oil and gas industry sector have very high potential for danger and risk. Based on data collected by BPJS Employment throughout 2020 to 2022, the number of work accidents tends to increase, this also includes data related to Occupational Diseases (PAK). The aim of carrying out this research is to find out how the K3 Management System (SMK3) is implemented by companies in the Indonesian Oil and Gas Industry. This research uses the literature study method. The research results found that the SMK3 implemented by companies in the oil and gas industry sector in Indonesia was running well and optimally. The majority of companies in the oil and gas sector in Indonesia have a high commitment to K3 in their work environment.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH) in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. After DWH, key questions were asked: What is the likelihood that a similar catastrophic oil spill (with a volume over 1 million barrels) will happen again? Is DWH an extreme event or will it happen frequently in the future? The extreme value theory (EVT) has been widely used in studying rare events, including damage from hurricanes, stock market crashes, insurance claims, flooding, and earthquakes. In this paper, the EVT is applied to analyze oil spills in the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS). Incorporating the 49 years (1964-2012) of OCS oil spill data, the EVT is capable of describing the oil spills reasonably well. The return period of a catastrophic oil spill in OCS areas is estimated to be 165 years, with a 95% confidence interval between 41 years and more than 500 years. Sensitivity tests indicate that the EVT results are relatively stable. The results of this study are very useful for oil spill risk assessment, contingency planning, and environmental impact statements on oil exploration, development, and production.

Accidents related to production, processing, storage and transportation of oil and its by-products have been studied extensively because of their social and environmental impacts. However, accidents relating to construction of oil facilities have been largely ignored by researches, perhaps because such accidents involve a smaller group of people and result in smaller-scale environmental impacts. Pipeline construction projects are particularly unique. As opposed to construction of processing plants, pipeline construction covers a very long reach, often involving varying site conditions. Consequently, there are more environmental issues, many of which vary from place to place along the pipeline route as a result of the differing soil, drainage, vegetation and exposure conditions. The variable conditions, exposure and consequences of accidents along a pipeline route result in many challenges related to risk management. Specifically, risk management is difficult as a result of transportation along the pipeline corridor, multiple access routes to the pipeline corridor, unique culture and social issues in various parts of the country, and remote working conditions. Major issues are moving work sites; crossing of different areas of the country with several typical cultural and regional aspects; multiple work sites and the isolation of workers in small groups. These factors make risk management particularly important, but easy to ignore. In this paper we discuss the major potential risks in every phase of the pipeline construction. The paper describes the company’s process for managing risk during pipeline construction. It identified the limitations of traditional safety management systems in coping with the critical problems related to environmental and safety issues. Many company are using integrated management systems as the major tools to control risk. Such systems cover health, safety and environmental issues (HSE). PETROBARS, as the largest Brazilian oil company and one of the leading oil companies in the world, has adopted the HSE system. The system focuses on employee participation in implementation of the HSE system.

The Legacy of Oil Spills

Chapter 3 - Absorption technology for upgrading biogas to biomethane

Recent improvements in optimizing use of dispersants as a cost-effective oil spill countermeasure technique. Abstract Several oil spill incidents during recent years have demonstrated that the physico-chemical properties of spilled oil and the effectiveness of available combat methods are, in addition to the prevailing environmental and weather conditions, key factors that determine the consequences of an oil spill. Pre-spill analyses of the feasibility and effectiveness of different response strategies, such as mechanical recovery and dispersants, for actual oils under various environmental conditions should therefore be an essential part of any oil spill contingency planning to optimize the overall "Net Environmental Benefit" of a combat operation. During the four-year research program ESCOST ("ESSO-SINTEF Coastal Oil Spill Treatment Program"), significant improvements have been made in oil spill combat methods and in tools for use in contingency planning and decision-making during oil spill operations. This paper will present an overview of the main findings obtained with respect to oil weathering and oil spill dispersant treatment during this research program, including:–New methodology for systematic investigations of the weathering properties of oils at sea–Development of high performance dispersant formulations for weathered and emulsified oils–Improvements in dispersant application techniques and applications procedures /strategies–Development of dynamic oil spill simulation model tools for use in designing more optimal and cost-effective oil spill contingency solutions. The results from the ESCOST program have been obtained through systematic laboratory and meso-scale basin studies, and numerical model developments. In addition, two successful full-scale controlled field trials have been conducted in the North Sea during 1994 and 1995. The results from the full-scale field trials have been used in verifying the laboratory experiments, calibrating the numerical model tools, and to investigate the effectiveness of different oil spill dispersant application techniques under realistic oil spill scenarios. The findings obtained in the ESCOST program have formed a foundation for the present effort among oil companies and authorities in implementing more operational, optimal dimensioned and cost-effective oil spill contingency for offshore platforms, refineries and oil terminals in Norway. Background for the ESCOST Program: Oil spills in recent years have demonstrated the high level of public concern related to the potential effects caused by oil spills. These spills have also reconfirmed the importance of having model tools available both for predicting the different oils behavior and to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of different countermeasure techniques such as mechanical recovery or dispersants. The behavior of spilled crude oils and refined oil products depends on the prevailing conditions (e.g. temperature, sea-state, currents) and on the chemical composition of the oil. Large variations in crude oil properties cause them to behave differently when spilled at sea. The crude spilled at the "Braer" incident in the Shetlands had e.g. a low content of waxes and asphaltenes which are important compounds for stabilizing water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions that usually are formed on the sea surface. This, combined with violent weather conditions, resulted in consequences that were much less severe than might have been expected. Almost all of the 84,000 tons of the spilled crude oil was naturally dispersed. P. 899

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH) in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. After DWH, a key question was asked: what is the likelihood that a similar catastrophic spill will happen again? The extreme value theory (EVT) has been widely used in studying rare events, including hurricane damage, stock market crash, insurance claim, flooding, earthquake, etc. In this paper, the EVT is applied to analyse oil spills in the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS). Based on the 49 years (1964–2012) of OCS oil spill data, the EVT is capable of describing the oil spills well. The return period of a catastrophic oil spill in the OCS areas is estimated to be 165 years, with a 95% confidence interval between 41 years and more than 500 years. Findings in this study are very useful to oil spill risk assessment, contingency planning, and environmental impact statement on oil exploration, development, and production.

PEMEX Exploration and Production have been using a progressive application of RADARSAT-1 satellite in Campeche Bay for offshore oil slick detection with ancillary and meteo oceanographic calibration since 2000. A multiyear monitoring program has been in progress combining successfully its results with oil spill modelers and GIS for complementary support in environmental issues. Introduction An oil seep report from a fisherman was the origin of Cantarell, the biggest Mexican oil field located on the Campeche Bay, in the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Nowadays, PEMEX Exploration and Production (PEP) share their operational marine area with a high activity of natural oil seeps (Figure 1), as well as with important vessel traffic related to fisheries or industrial transport. Nevertheless, any oil record on the sea or on the beaches of this area is immediately related to PEP activities or facilities generating claims and social pressures with economic and public image impacts. After the Ixtoc-1 oil spill on 1979, PEMEX focused its attention to enhance its environmental resources. In order to improve monitoring and evaluation capabilities, since 1999 PEMEX has begun to use Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing for oil slick detection and analysis. This work describes our four year experience with the RADARSAT-1 satellite applications, and how it has developed and integrated as a complementary tool for an operational monitoring multiyear program. SAR theory for oil slick detection Satellite marine application is a progressive technology that allows improving spatial and temporal coverage with a lower cost in relation to traditional monitoring (i.e. oceanographic or aerial surveys). Nevertheless, as any other new technology it is necessary to verify its use under different conditions to define limits and strengths. Scientific papers could be an option to the academy, but not good enough for operational requiriments. Offshore activities from PEP required a remote sensing tool with oil detection capability, accuracy results and time delivery opportunity. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors generate and receive microwave between 3 to 23.5 cm wavelengths (Raney, 1998). Unlike optical sensors, microwave energy penetrates clouds, rain, smoke, dust, or haze thus enabling SAR systems to collect data under any atmospheric condition. The physical mechanism that allows detection of oil seeps and spills is the dampening of capillary waves present on the ocean surface. These capillary waves, which are only a few centimeters in length, produce backscattering of the incident radar pulse due to a Bragg scattering mechanism (Johannessen et al., 1994). As a result, ocean regions containing oil are dark in contrast with the background radar signal (clutter). Critical meteo-oceanographic conditions for oil slick detection are winds and waves high. The range of wind velocity considered ideal for oil detection using SAR lies between 3 to 10 m.s-1 and represent a user limitation (Staples and Hodgins, 1998). In addition, sea state conditions suitable for oil seep detection are characterized by wave heights of less than 1.5m.

Oil spills in coastal areas are a serious environmental issue that can cause damage to marine ecosystems, water pollution, and economic losses for fishing communities. This community service project aims to enhance fishermen's understanding of the negative impacts of oil spills and to provide practical skills and knowledge regarding oil waste management. The approach used includes training on the use of absorbent tools, binding chemicals, and localization technologies to handle oil spills. Additionally, the project introduces environmentally friendly technologies to reduce the risk of oil leaks or spills from fishing vessels. The project results indicate a significant increase in the knowledge and skills of the participating fishermen regarding oil waste management. Further discussion reveals the importance of implementing comprehensive coastal area management strategies to prevent and mitigate oil pollution. In conclusion, this project not only successfully achieved its goal of enhancing fishermen's capacity but also offers a replicable model for similar programs in other coastal areas. Therefore, active participation from fishing communities and continuous support from various stakeholders is essential for environmental sustainability and the well-being of coastal communities.

Variation of stretching tension and breaking tendency of floating fresh South Louisiana crude oil with slick thickness

The North Sea is one of the world's important commercial fishing areas; yet the introduction in the early 1970's of oil-producing operations into the North Sea has not been hampered by particularly restrictive legislation or critical public opinion. If anything, the public and their governments have welcomed the oil public and their governments have welcomed the oil industry to their respective countries. The happy situation that prevails in the North Sea area has not been achieved without a great deal of effort by the oil companies and the governments; the way in which this effort was organized and directed forms the basis of this article. Work of the North Sea Offshore Operating Committee While the first plans for offshore oil production were still being drawn up, and the majority of oil fields in the North Sea were in the discovery phase, the industry, through the various North Sea country offshore operating committees, was setting up committees to study the problems associated with oil production in the marine environment. The first work of these committees was to accept the fact - one that is still not accepted universally - that oil spills were possible from the offshore oil fields and to study feasible methods of cleaning up an oil spill. This was done by first reviewing the published data and house reports of the classic oil spills such as that from the Torrey Canyon and the spill in the Santa Barbara Channel. From analysis of these spills it became evident that any plan or method would have to cover a wide range of individual company management structures or be extremely restrictive on any specific company's management. Accordingly, the groups restricted their studies to equipment and methods of cleaning up oil spills and gave only general advice on how individual company plans could be drafted to suit the available jointly owned equipment. All the conventional methods of cleanup were evaluated and it was decided that the only one that could be relied upon to be effective was dispersing the oil with chemical dispersants. (The North Sea groups are striving to develop methods that will pick up oil in the hostile North Sea, and are giving advice to operators and governments regarding improved operating practices that will minimize spillage.) Generally speaking, no mechanical equipment available today can collect or retain oil in seas that exceed 10-ft wave height. Therefore, the present plans of nearly all the North Sea Offshore Operating Committees are based on using oil-dispersing chemicals. The chemicals to be used were selected after consultation with, and on the recommendation of, the national government laboratories who were undertaking large-scale tests of dispersants. On successfully obtaining suitable supplies of approved dispersant, the next step was to decide on methods of application. P. 1153