Mobil Oil Research Articles

OIL WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF REGION IN 50-IES – 60-IES OF THE XXTH CENTURY

Summary. The purpose of the research is to study the policies of Great Britain, the United States and the USSR in the Persian Gulf region in the 1950-ies and 1960-ies in the context of the struggle for oil power. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of systemicity, authenticity, historicism, logics. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-typological, historical-system) methods have been used. The events are considered according to their interrelation and in the totality of the revealed historical facts. The scientific novelty of the research is based on the fact that for the first time in the modern national historiography, based on the specific actual material, the policy features of the great countries in the Persian Gulf in the 50-ies and 60-ies of the XXth century have been analyzed. It has been proved that the present time oil industry had been establishing during 1950-ies and1960-ies of the XXth century. Conclusions. In the 50-ies and 60-ies of the XXth century the oil industry underwent the profound changes: the energy ambitions growth of the major Western oil companies, such as Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), Standard Oil of California, Texas Oil Company, Mobil Oil, Gulf Oil, British Petroleum, the Royal Dutch-Shell Group, and the political and economic independence movement expanding in the oil-exporting countries (Iran, the Persian Gulf countries) led to a deepening of the crisis between the two sides. At the same time, the political struggle between the superpowers, which broke out with renewed vigor after the end of the Second World War, was used, including the energy control levers by means of a direct or indirect pressure on the oil-producing countries. During this period, the old oil production system and the oil exports, laid in the colonial era, collapsed, the agreements between the exporting countries and the extractive oil companies become more transparent, the pricing is carried out under conditions of the equal competitive relations within the framework of a market economy.

History, Current State, and Prospects for Development of Isobutane Alkylation with Olefins

The history of the formation, development, current state, trends, and prospects for the development of isobutane alkylation with olefins are discussed. It is shown that this process is carried out using various catalysts and technologies, among which sulfuric acid alkylation has a predominant use in refining around the world. Characteristics of domestic and foreign alkylation processes are compared. Data on the construction and beginning of operation of the first domestic industrial sulfuric acid alkylation plants in Grozny are discussed. In addition, data on alkylation plants obtained by lend-lease and built at refineries in Gur’ev, Orsk, Krasnovodsk, and Kuibyshev in 1945–1955 are presented. The prospect of developing the alkylation of isoparaffins with olefins is aimed at the development of technologies using solid catalysts, mainly based on various zeolites. The main foreign companies that have developed promising technologies for the alkylation process on solid catalysts are Mobil Oil Corporation, Sun Oil Company, Universal Oil Products Company, CLG (United States), Akzo Nobel (Holland), Haldor Topsoe (Denmark), INL (United States), UOP (United States), EXELUS (United States), Lurgi (Germany), etc. Among leading domestic research institutes, the following should be named: Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences; Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences; and Grozny State Oil Technical University.

Forensic Discrimination of Fake and Genuine Mobil Oils

The major functions of lubricating oils is the reduction of friction and wear by the separation of surfaces, metallic or plastic, which are moving with respect to each other. The few Indian infringers are engaged in cheating, substandard and duplication cases forensic scientist and police facing problems with rapid increase in different types of Mobil oils having hydrocarbons and other additives. Which can be used for comparison purpose keeping in this view a protocol for rapid screening and analysis of these type of material by using physical parameters, thin layer chromatography and FT-IR spectral analysis have developed to differentiate fake (used) Mobil oil and genuine unused branded Mobil oils. The present work describes the discrimination of fake and genuine Mobil oils on the basis of physical parameters, thin layer chromatography and FT-IR analysis.

Environment Reporting in Annual Reports: A Comparative Analysis of Reporting Practices of Listed Firms in Nigeria

Environment reporting practice is a relatively new concept with a global affirmation and sanction. It requires transparency and sincerity of disclosure among the practicing firms and as required under the law. The broad objective of this study is to carry out a comparative analysis of reporting practices and its effect on performance (proxy by total assets) of listed oil and gas firms on the one hand and consumer goods firms in Nigeria (on the other hand). The study adopted the ex-post facto research design whereby existing and published data of reporting companies have been sought through their annual reports. Data for analyses were obtained through secondary sources, namely, the annual reports and accounts of the sampled companies. The Nigerian oil and gas subsector has 12 listed firms while the manufacturing sub-sector has 31 companies, from which three firms each (total of six) were sampled for the study. The purposive sampling technique was adopted in the choice of firm to be included in the study; Mobil oil and gas, MRS Oil Nig plc and Total Nig plc were chosen from the oil and gas sector while Nestle Nig plc, Nigerian Breweries plc, and Dangote flour Mills were selected from the consumer goods industry. The analyses adopted the use of SPSS version 20.0 and the essential tools were the correlation coefficient, the coefficient of determination and the simple regression analysis model. It was found that discretionary social responsibility reporting practices (donations and gifts) have significant effects on performance of both oil and gas firms and consumer goods companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that firms should consolidate on discretionary SR practices to ward off restiveness in the communities where they operate.

New insights into reaction mechanisms of the methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) reactions: the formation of first C–C bond

The methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) and methanol-to-olefins (MTO) processes are 2 epochal technological discoveries in the synfuels arena, first introduced by Mobil Oil Corporation, some 50 years after the Fischer–Tropsch process. Apart from the technological breakthroughs and commercial success, the MTG and MTO processes have also provided a rich tableau for scientific research and pursuits, filled with research controversies/challenges and technological advances, especially in the formation of the first C–C bond, from methanol/ dimethyl ether (DME), over the H-ZSM-5 catalyst. In this report, we will analyze the experimental/theoretical data, relating to the formation of first C–C bond, and examine the various proposals that have been put out in the literature. Here, based on our well-informed analyses, guided by in situ operando observations of surface intermediates and theoretical calculations, we shed an illuminating light to clarify these controversial questions.

Cyclodextrin-based supramolecular assemblies: a versatile toolbox for the preparation of functional porous materials

The discovery of ordered mesoporous materials in 1992 by Mobil Oil Corporation scientists has opened great opportunities for new applications in many emerging fields such as heterogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, energy conversion, biosensors, photocatalytic devices and environmental technologies. Porous materials are grouped by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) into three classes according to their pore diameter: microporous ( 50 nm). One of the most versatile methods for the preparation of those materials is the soft template approach which combines the sol–gel process with molecular self-assembly. While the micelles formed by ionic or nonionic surfactants, as well as amphiphilic polymers, have been extensively used as templates, the supramolecular assemblies formed between cyclodextrins and block copolymers have been less investigated, despite their large chemical and structural diversity. This review article focuses mainly on nanostructured porous inorganic materials derived from cyclodextrins or cyclodextrin-based assemblies. More than 100 references are described and discussed, in which we look both at their synthesis and characterization, as well as their applications in the emerging fields of heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. A special attention is paid to the evaluation of the critical parameters that need to be controlled for improving their (photo) catalytic performances.

SYNTHESIS OF FUNCTIONALIZED MCM-41 MESOPOROUS SILICA

: The invention of mesoporous materials is of significant interest to many scientists worldwide. The Mobil Crystalline Materials No 41 (MCM-41) is a well-known mesoporous molecular sieve that was discovered in 1992 by a scientist at the Mobil Oil Corporation. The MCM-41 is widely used in catalysis, ion exchange, drug delivery, optics, gas sensing, and sorption. In this study, the surface of a mesoporous silica MCM-41, synthesized from pure silica, is functionalized with a methyl group by grafting. The synthesized and functionalized samples are characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD), and the functionalized sample are also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The textural properties of the samples are determined using N2 adsorption and desorption analysis. Thermal behaviors of the samples are analyzed using thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). The results of the analyses show that the functionalization of the synthesized material through grafting was accomplished with the surface area of the functionalized sample determined as 600.87 m2 g-1.

Effect of the filler composition on the electrorheological response of dielectric suspensions in an enlarged temperature range

In this article, we present the results of creation of fillers for electrosensitive rheological fluids, the rheological characteristics of which depend only on the electric field strength and are independent of the change in temperature. The material of the electrorheological fluid filler, nanosized titanium dioxide modified by aluminum cation, was synthesized by the sol-gel method. The rheological properties of electrorheological fluids on the base of synthetic MOBIL oil with TiO2 particles alloyed with 7, 9, and 12 mol% of Al were investigated in the electric field strength varying from 0 to 3.5 kV/mm. The shear stress ( τ > τ0) of electrorheological fluids was determined by a Physica MCR-301 rheometer. The highest shear stress at T = 20°C was reached in electrorheological fluid with TiO2 particles alloyed with 12 mol% of Al. Comparison of shear stress for electrorheological fluids with TiO2 particles (12 mol% Al) annealed at Tan = 600°C, 700°C, and 800°C shows that the highest result was obtained for electrorheological fluid-3 ( Tan = 700°C). The most stable values of shear stress in the temperature range from 5°C to 80°C were obtained for electrorheological fluid with TiO2 particles alloyed with 12 mol% Al annealed at Tan = 800°C.

Seek out innovative ways to educate your community

After graduating from Eastern Washington University, Keith Snow‐Flamer, president of the College of the Redwoods in California, thought his career would be in the Marines, not in higher education. However, after five years in the Marines, Snow‐Flamer left to work for Kraft Foods and Mobil Oil. While there, he started considering the legacy of his long‐term work.

Synthesis Methods of Mesoporous Silica Materials

From the discovery of mesoporous materials in 1992 at Mobil oil company, these materials are continuously gaining attraction due to their superior properties like tunable pore structure, surface morphology, huge pore volume and ability of easy functionalization. In this paper historical background of mesoporous silica materials and methods which are used to synthesize these materials such as sol-gel method, microwave assisted technique, chemical etching technique, templating approach are discussed. In templating approach a template (structure directing agent) is used to create hollow porous structure but chemical etching technique uses a selective etching agent (basic/acidic) to create mesoporous structure, here no template (soft/hard) is required. Microwave technique is used for rapid synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. In microwave technique self assembly of organosilane precursors and blockcopolymer and successive hydrothermal treatment is carried out under the microwave oven.

Atmospheric Corrosion of Corrugated Iron Roofing Sheet in Oil Producing Locations in Southeastern Nigeria

The study evaluated the atmospheric corrosion of corrugated iron roofing sheets in rural, urban, and marine environments using rain water harvested from roofs of various ages. Corrosion study was based on the weathering processes leading to high levels of sulphate, chloride and nitrate in rainwater in the three areas. Results showed that roofs below one year and 2 years in age were more susceptible to rusting than roofs above 15 years. The mean corrosion rates were higher in marine (Ibeno) ranging between 0.16 × 103 μm/yr and 2.94 × 103 μm/yr followed by rural (Okobo) 0.08 × 103 - 1.88 × 103 μm/yr, and the least was urban (Uyo) 0.031 × 103 μm/yr - 0.79 × 103 μm/yr. Sulphates, nitrates and chlorides were high in the marine environment, which also coincided with the area of gas flare by Mobil Oil exploration activities. Increase in temperature and acid rain formations in this area led to increased acid rainstorm. This could manifest in the erosion of beach and wetland, inundates low-lying areas (Ibeno, Ibaka (James town), Oron, Utan brama, Utan-Effiong and Mbe-Ndoro) flooding and loss of coastal land and mangrove forests. Above all, gas flaring affects atmospheric water quality in which soil, crops, fruits, streams, and rivers are affected.

Safety Considerations for High-Pressure Air Injection Into Light-Oil Reservoirs and Performance of the Holt Sand Unit Project

Summary The presence of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the injection and production streams of any high-pressure-air-injection (HPAI) project or the high oxygen partial pressures associated with enriched-air-/oxygen-injection projects may create serious safety concerns such as the potential for explosion or corrosion. Compilation of field problems and reported solutions from such projects indicate that no insurmountable problems exist in the implementation of HPAI projects. Generally, the operators have implemented safe operations successfully when injecting at pressures as high as 6,000 psi. The long-term successes of the HPAI projects in the Williston basin, which were initiated in 1978 by Koch Industries and continue to be operated today by Continental Resources, have confirmed that HPAI is a viable and safe process for recovering light oils. A number of oilfield oxygen-injection projects have also been undertaken since the early 1980s, when Greenwich Oil operated the first oxygen-injection project at Forest Hills, Texas. In Canada during the 1980s, oxygen was injected by BP/AOSTRA at Marguerite Lake, by Dome Petroleum at Lindberg, by Husky Energy at Golden Lake, by Mobil Oil at Fosterton, and by Gulf Canada at Pelican. In the US, oxygen-injection pilots were operated by Arco in the Holt Sand Unit (HSU), Texas, and more recently by NiMin Energy at Pleito Creek, California. With increased oxygen partial pressure, there is a greater chance of safety or corrosion problems. In fact, the high oxygen content associated with the HSU project in west Texas caused a severe energy release that resulted in test termination. The reported data on this field are scarce, and the nature of the energy release has not been discussed in detail. This paper will first review the operational aspects of some key air-injection field tests. Then, some important details on the HSU oxygen-injection pilot test will be discussed as a case study. The reasons behind the energy release in the HSU project will be discussed by use of the surveillance data, as well as combustion-tube-test and numerical-modeling results. Finally, best practices for future operation of HPAI tests will be reviewed. This paper is intended to provide a better understanding of the safety aspects of air/oxygen handling and proper practices in such operations.

Improving the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) panels by oil coating

The objective of this research is to develop a new technique for improving the efficiency of Photovoltaic (PV) panels. This technique is done by coating the front surface of the PV panel by a fine layer of oil in order to increase the amount of light transmitted to the panel, and consequently its efficiency. Different types of oils are examined, including both mineral oils and natural oils. In case of mineral oils; vacuum pump oil (Labovac oil), engine oil (Mobil oil) and brake oil (Abro oil) are examined, while in case of natural oils; olive and sunflower oils are examined. An experimental setup has been developed to examine the performance of the PV panels as a function of oil coatings. The experimental setup consists of an artificial sun, the PV panel under investigation, a cooling system and a measuring system to measure the performance of the panel. It has been found that coating the PV panel with a fine layer of Labovac oil, ∼1mm thick, improves the efficiency of the PV panel by more than 20%, and this is due to the high transmissivity of the Labovac oil compared to other oils. However, the Labovac oil has a drawback which is overheating of the panel due to its high transmissivity. Coating of PV panels with a fine layer of Labovac oil should be done only in cold regions, in order to avoid the heating effect that can decrease the power output of PV panels.

An Empirical Analysis of Capital Structure on Performance of Firms in the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria

The capital structure decision of a firm is very paramount to its successful operation. The objective of the study was to analyse the impact of capital structure on firm performance in Nigeria from 2003 to 2012. Using data from six petroleum companies in Nigeria namely: Chevron Plc, Conoil Plc, Eterna Oil plc, Mobil Oil Plc, Oando Plc and Total Nigeria Plc. The study carried out a panel data analysis by using fixed effect estimation. The study found that a negative relationship exists between leverage and firm performance and the study established that a positive a relationship exists between three of the explanatory variables (firm’s size, tax and lagged return of asset) and firm performance. The study therefore recommended that the management of the industry should rely more on equity financing as a way of funding their business.

Full Spectrum

Sally Zinke is an outstanding geophysicist who has left an indelible mark on SEG with her many achievements. Most notably, she is the only woman to date who has served as President of our Society. Zinke received a B.S. in geology and geophysics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, an M.S. in geophysics from Pennsylvania State University, and midway through her career completed the executive M.B.A. program at the University of Denver with an emphasis in finance. She has worked for a major oil company, Mobil Oil; a large independent, PanCanadian Petroleum; was a faculty member at the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology; worked as a consultant on many exploration-related projects; and most recently was director of exploration/director of new ventures for Ultra Petroleum. Throughout that time, she has been a volunteer in her local SEG section, the Denver Geophysical Society, and has served on numerous SEG committees and several Executive Committees. While President in 2000–2001, Zinke, along with her Executive Committee, developed a Strategic Plan to take SEG into the 21st century. She also ably handled the 9/11 interruption of the SEG Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Through all of this, Zinke was a single mom, and as she claims, “My greatest success is my 22-year old daughter — I built an intelligent, strong, yet compassionate woman.”

Oil and Gas Industry and the Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria: Local Content Policy Implications

The objective of this study, oil and gas industry and the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria: local content policy implications is to evaluate the Impact of Local Content policy on the size of small and medium oil industries in Nigeria. The population of the study was all the 945 workers in Elf Petroleum (Total) and Mobil (ExxonMobil) oil companies operating in Nigeria, using simple random sampling technique by balloting. The sample size of the study was 567 workers in the two companies representing 60% of the population out of which 450 were validly satisfied. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using mean, mean set and standard deviations while The Z-test was used to analyze the hypotheses. The findings showed that the Local Content Policy influences greatly on the size of Small and Medium oil industries in Nigeria. It was also discovered that tedious pre-qualification and tender processes, inadequate financing and poaching of Staff by the bigger oil companies are constraints on the efficacy of Local Content Policy in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends that there should be an enactment of the Local Content Act. It also recommended that closer supervision and monitoring of the policy guidelines by regulatory authorities should more active. Reduction of registration fees with regulatory authorities such as DPR and NAPIMS should be streamline. There should be support for SMEs operating in the industry in terms of single-digit financing for projects. Finally, government should facilitate the quality partnerships and alliances that car enhance higher levels of technology transfer and capacity building.

The “creative confrontation” of Herbert Schmertz: Public relations sense making and the corporate persona

Beginning in the early 1970s, Mobil Oil's public relations, under the direction of Herbert Schmertz, attempted to demonstrate to Americans that the company acted like a person who worked to benefit society. With an approach he called “creative confrontation,” Schmertz offered an adversarial stance toward the news media, coupled with inventive methods of supporting the arts. Creative confrontation sought the public's support by revealing that the corporation was an entity that understood the needs of the public and worked to uphold American values like free expression and progress. This work, in examining a distinctive and sustained effort to communicate the corporate personality, offers lingering implications for how public relations, through the conveyance of the corporate persona, can more widely conceptualize and execute its sense-making role in society.

Exxon: Transforming Energy, 1973–2005 by Joseph A. Pratt (review)

Reviewed by: Exxon: Transforming Energy, 1973–2005 by Joseph A. Pratt James E. Cousar Exxon: Transforming Energy, 1973–2005. By Joseph A. Pratt with William E. Hale. (Austin: Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, 2013. Pp. 662. Illustrations, maps, figures, appendices, notes, index.) Exxon: Transforming Energy is the fifth volume of Exxon’s authorized corporate history. The principal author, Joseph A. Pratt, is a professor of business and history at the University of Houston. The co-author, William Hale, is a retired senior advisor to ExxonMobil’s Public Affairs Department. The book is based in part on the ExxonMobil historical archive at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. Exxon, formerly Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or “Esso,” emerged from the breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s original Standard Oil Company following a 1911 Supreme Court anti-trust ruling. Esso, the largest and most successful of the Standard Oil offspring, changed its name to Exxon in 1973. When Exxon merged with Mobil Oil Corporation in 1999, it became ExxonMobil Corporation, the world’s largest non-state energy company. This volume covers an especially turbulent thirty-three years in Exxon’s history that encompassed two energy crises, repeated boom and bust cycles, and the formidable challenge of aggressive “resource nationalism.” The book also covers Exxon’s relocation from New York City to Irving, Texas. Exxon reflects the advantages and drawbacks inherent in authorized histories. The advantages include access to extensive documentary resources and financial data, participation of key decision makers, and financial support for the book from ExxonMobil. Drawbacks include the authors’ personal engagement with the corporation they are chronicling and reliance on its financial support. Pratt’s preface candidly acknowledges that ExxonMobil exercised its right to review and comment on the manuscript, while ceding ultimate editorial control to the authors. The result is a comprehensive history, but one that subjects Exxon’s more controversial actions to only a modest degree of scrutiny. The authors’ primary theme is the formidable challenge posed to Exxon and other “majors” in the 1970s when oil producing nations—including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, and Libya—reclaimed oilfields from companies that had controlled them as private assets. The imperative of “reserve replacement” led Exxon and Mobil into increasingly challenging provinces, including Indonesia, former Soviet republics, and coastal and sub-Saharan Africa. Pratt and Hale do a credible job recounting ExxonMobil’s success in maintaining reserves and increasing its profitability in an era when many predicted that multi-nationals would become second string players to giant national oil companies like Saudi Aramco and Petrobras. Because this is a thorough corporate history, it complements the company’s dramatic “upstream” story with accounts of the more mundane and lower revenue downstream divisions, including chemicals, refining, and retail. Pratt and Hale draw flattering portraits of corporate leadership over these three decades, balanced with a less admiring description of Exxon’s notoriously regimented corporate culture. Two major misadventures draw different degrees of examination. Regarding the (then) largest oil spill in history, the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the authors assess events and Exxon’s response evenhandedly. They acknowledge the stain left on the company’s reputation by the negligent spill and years of litigation and acrimony that followed. However, they largely gloss over Exxon’s controversial campaign to discredit widely accepted scientific research on global warming and its efforts to derail governmental initiatives intended to address that warming’s harmful effects. [End Page 238] This thoroughly footnoted volume includes forty pages of indexes and data. Its detail and scope will make it a useful resource for researching a crucial era in “Big Oil’s” history, but like many authorized histories it should be balanced with more probing accounts of its subject’s complicated record. [End Page 239] James E. Cousar Austin, Texas Copyright © 2014 The Texas State Historical Association

We Gambled Everything: The Life and Times of an Oilman by Arne Nielsen. Foreword by Peter C. Newman (review)

Reviewed by: We Gambled Everything: The Life and Times of an Oilman by Arne Nielsen. Foreword by Peter C. Newman Allan Edward Ingelson We Gambled Everything: The Life and Times of an Oilman. By Arne Nielsen. Foreword by Peter C. Newman. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2012. xxi + 273 pp. Photographs, illustrations, maps, index. C$29.95 paper. The author, a prominent retired Canadian oil geologist and senior industry executive, captures in his memoirs the excitement of oil discoveries on the Alberta and Saskatchewan plains during the 1940s and ’50s. He shares his experiences as a corporate executive for Mobil Oil in New York, while overseeing exploration programs on the plains in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Kansas. Nielsen reviews his childhood and teenage years growing up on the family farm during the 1920s and ’30s in an area subject to drought, dust storms, and poverty on the Alberta plains. After noting there were numerous unsuccessful attempts at drilling for oil on the plains near Leduc, Alberta, and the contribution of improved seismic technology, Nielsen describes the significant commercial oil discovery by Imperial Oil in 1947, that laid the foundation for a Canadian oil and gas industry. Through the eyes of a young geology graduate in the late 1940s he alludes to the increased employment opportunities in the emerging Alberta oil industry for individuals with a strong work ethic. Nielsen notes the significant contribution of US companies—in terms of investment and the deployment of technology on the plains—to the development of the oil and gas industry in western Canada. Through the eyes of a 28-year-old geologist who was a member of the exploration team that discovered an immense oilfield, he shares the excitement of locating the multibillion barrel Pembina oilfield in 1953, that has become one of the most productive fields in North America. In light of his role in the major oil discovery Nielsen was fast tracked to the Socony (Standard Oil of New York) corporate headquarters. Nielsen discusses his oil exploration experience on the plains in Saskatchewan and further south in the Williston Basin in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. When analyzing the investment climate for oil exploration in Saskatchewan during the 1950s and ’60s, he notes that notwithstanding the stark political contrast to entrepreneurial free-market Alberta, overall the socialist Saskatchewan provincial government was fairly positive toward oil development. The government was aware of the significant economic benefits that neighboring Alberta had accrued from its conventional oil exploration and production activities on the plains. In the balance of the book Nielsen analyzes the changes in Canadian federal energy policies that have dramatically affected the level of oil and gas investment, exploration, and development in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, eastern Canada offshore, and in the Northwest Territories. A key theme in We Gambled Everything is that US and Canadian oil companies assume substantial uncertainty in their search for commercial accumulations of fossil fuels. The high risk search that Nielsen describes in his book that was present in previous decades continues. Recently American and Canadian oil and gas developers have employed innovative horizontal drilling and fracking techniques to locate and evaluate unconventional energy resources on the plains that were previously uneconomic to produce on a significant scale, such as oil from the Bakken shales in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, in an attempt to satisfy the growing demand for fossil fuels in North America. Allan Edward Ingelson Canadian Institute of Resources Law, Faculty of Law University of Calgary, Alberta Copyright © 2014 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Effect of Treatment Methods on Used Lubricating Oil for Recycling Purposes

The need to treat used lubricating oil for possible reuse has arisen due to concern for the environment, scarcity, price stability, and increasing dependence on this product for many industrial applications. Various methods, such as distillation/clay, acid/clay, acid, and activated charcoal/clay treatment methods, were employed in this study for the treatment of used Mobil and Total lubricating oil samples with the aim of improving their qualities for reuse. The characteristics of the fresh, used, and treated oil are tested for water content, specific gravity, kinematic viscosity, viscosity index, flash point, pour point, sulphur content, and concentrations of heavy metals (aluminum, iron, and lead). The results obtained showed that the usage of the lubricant oil affects the qualities of oil, for instance the sulphur of both brands of the oil samples was below the detectable limit, while the sulphur contents of the used oil are 0.80 and 0.69% for the used Mobil and Total oil samples, respectively. The results also revealed that treatments employed in this work were able to improve the characteristics of the used oil samples after treatment. The analyses of the results showed that the acid/clay method was the most effective method of treatment that brings the characteristics of the treated oil close to the fresh oil sample, while the distillation/clay and activated/charcoal methods were the best in terms of recovery of the oil after treatment. These two methods also recovered about 80% of the used lube oil samples compared to acid and acid/clay treatment methods, where the oil recovered was about 50% of the charge used oil sample.