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Directory:Oil

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Resources pertaining to oil energy and its consequences of impact on the earth, both environmental as well as geopolitical; and why we need to seek alternative energy sources.

Contents

Overview

Oil is the New World currency.

  • North American Continent Oil Fields Abound - While our coverage is usually on alternatives to oil, the purpose of this page is to illustrate that there is no non-greed-based reason why the price of oil should be reaching as high as it is in North America, when the continent is awash in petroleum.
  • Fuel Watch Worldwide - Directory created to keep an eye on fuel costs worldwide. Why do we see prices from 12 cents USD up to over $11 USD per gallon for the same product from around the world? (PESWiki; June 17, 2008)

Videos

  • Featured: Oil >
    Saudi Oil Kingdom Resisting Renewables - A review of a recent documentary by 60 Minutes about the Saudi Oil industry, showing their world-preeminent infrastructure, new projects, and projections; but, more significantly, their denial of and resistance to any clean alternatives. (PESN; Dec. 21, 2008)

Non-Fossil Oil

See Directory:Non-Fossil Oil

Image:Bacteria Bell Bio-Energy 95x95.jpg

Books

  • Why are Gas Prices So High? - Mary-Sue reviews book by Canadian author, that looks at a psychological component and solution to the greed that drives oil dependency.
  • The End of Oil : On the Edge of a Perilous New World by Paul Roberts Customer Review: It's a bizarre psychological fact that Americans and their media obsess over bad news until it bores them -- then move on without doing anything about it. Paul Roberts' book makes a balanced and persuasive case that this is simply not an option when it comes to the supply of...
  • The Oil Factor: How Oil Controls the Economy and Your Financial Future by Donna Leeb, Stephen Leeb Customer Review: To paraphrase an ad, "just buy it." I'm a pretty sophisticated investor, and I read all the financial papers and have read a slew of investment books. Most of them have been disappointing; they stress the obvious, they're misleading, or they're just not very informative. This book is totally different.

Conservation

  • Saudis ask for aid if world cuts dependence on oil - Saudi Arabia has led a quiet campaign demanding behind closed doors that oil-producing nations get special financial assistance if a new climate pact calls for substantial reductions in the use of fossil fuels. (Associated Press; Oct. 8, 2009)

Ecological Impact

  • The Costly Compromises of Oil From Sand - The oil that is extracted from Canadian dirt is being portrayed as saving America from energy dependence on the unstable Middle East, or an environmental catastrophe in the making — depending on the perspective. (Energy Tribune; Jan. 10, 2009)
  • Indonesian Tsunami Possibly Tripped by Exxon-Mobil Works - Exxon-Mobil's one cubic mile of natural gas extracted every four years at epicenter Aceh facility presents a smoking gun for man-made factor in 9.0 earthquake with accompanying tsunami that killed more than 225,000 people. (PESN; Jan. 24, 2005)
  • Shell Oil May Have Spurred Gulf Quake - Extraction of oil, gas, and brines can trigger earth movements. The epicenter of the 5.2 earthquake on Feb. 10 coincides with Shell Oil's Brutus field. Could the Gulf Coast be priming for an Aceh-like tsunami? (PESN; Feb. 15, 2006)
  • Alberta Oil & Gas Collateral Damage: She Can Light Her Water on Fire - Jessica Ernst lives east of Calgary. EnCana, a big oil & gas company, is operating close to her house and "fraced" the underground aquifer where area landowners get their water. Tests on her water revealed high levels of methane, ethane and several other fossil fuels. It also showed signs of heavy hydrocarbons, like the ones used in drilling fluids. (TreeHugger; July 15, 2008)
  • On Oil Extraction and Earth Wobble - Inventor Robert L. Cook compares the earth's recent seismic flurry to an out-of-balance washing machine, due to the un-equal vast volume of oil extracted. (Cook Inertial Propulsion; March 16, 2005)
  • Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water: Perchlorate Pollution Spreading Nationwide - Drinking water for more than 20 million Americans is contaminated with a toxic legacy of the Cold War: A chemical that interferes with normal thyroid function, may cause cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is currently unregulated by state or federal authorities. (Environmental Working Group)
  • Wilma Probably a Sleeper Where Oil is Concerned - While it will stir other problems, there are no significant oil platforms at risk -- unless it veers left into the Yucatan. Alt energy would free us from fretting so much. (PESN; Oct. 18, 2005)
  • Gulf Oil Disruption Likely to Cripple U.S. and World Economy - The damage done to the Gulf oil and gas infrastructure is tremendous. Gas is in short supply in the region, further hampering restorative efforts. Snowball effect of this aorta of U.S. commerce is likely to be felt worldwide. Long overdue time to look at alternatives to oil. (PESN; Sept. 2, 2005)
  • Gulf Oil Disruption Likely to Cripple U.S. and World Economy - The damage done to the Gulf oil and gas infrastructure is tremendous. Gas is in short supply in the region, further hampering restorative efforts. Snowball effect of this aorta of U.S. commerce is likely to be felt worldwide. Long overdue time to look at alternatives to oil. (PESN; Sept. 2, 2005)
  • Rita Headed for Houston- Could Take Out Key Remaining Refineries - The biggest remaining part of our oil refineries and offshore and near shore recovery of oil and gas is now in the bull’s eye. This could take the USA well below the capacity of the EU and others to even ship us supplies. (PESN; Sept. 20, 2005)
  • Decades of Hurricanes Threaten US Offshore Oil - Oil companies in the United States are pinning the hopes of the nation's energy future on big oil finds in offshore waters even as scientists predict the Atlantic will spawn more powerful hurricanes through the next two to three decades. (Reuters; July 7, 2005)
  • Unfeasibility of Rebuilding New Orleans - The river is moving away from the city. The city is sinking because of its weight, because no upbuilding by new muck for many decades, because of being cut off from the fresh water, because it is sliding off a cliff (the Continental Shelf), and because the Oil and Gas Industry is extracting oil out from under it. It is a city that for all intents and purposes is now Sea domain. Spend the money on developing alternative energy solutions instead. (PESN; Sept. 23, 2005)
  • Oil-Dependence Predicts Famine - Food production need not depend on fertilizer derived from natural gas. Natural sourced minerals are a valid alternative, but strong political action is necessary to reclaim lost rights to save genetically-unmodified seed. (PESN; Sept. 12, 2005)

Extraction

  • Natural Gas >
    Natural Gas to Gasoline - Synfuels International, says that the process uses fewer steps and is far more efficient than more established techniques based on the Fischer-Tropsch process that converts natural gas into syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide; a catalyst then causes the carbon and hydrogen to reconnect in new compounds, such as alcohols and fuels. (MIT Technology Review; August 15, 2008)
  • Directory:Microwave-based Oil Extraction - Methods of using microwave frequencies to extract oil and gas in seconds from shale, coal, and tar sands. The microwaves are tuned to an optimum frequency to separate the component parts which can be burned or condensed into liquid fuel, using only a small portion of the energy produced.
  • Oil innovations pump new life into old wells - Technology advances such as steam-flooding have made it possible to unlock more oil from old fields, and higher oil prices have made it economical for companies to go after reserves that are harder to reach. Forecasts that the world's reserves are drying out have given way to predictions that more oil can be found than ever before. (CNET News; Mar. 05, 2007)
  • Microhole Drilling Rig Could Tap Bypassed Oil - Hybrid microhole coiled tubing rig penetrates intractable formation to deliver cost savings of 25-35% per well drilled, making bypassed oil and gas resources economic. The Energy Department estimates bypassed oil in the US at 218 billion barrels. Recovering just 10 percent equates to 10 years of OPEC oil imports. (Green Car Congress; January 12, 2007)
  • Geothermal > GeoPower In The Oil Sands - Major oil companies have formed a consortium called GeoPower In The Oil Sands (GeoPOS) that is exploring using heat in the Earth's crust as a clean alternative to natural gas for oil sands production. Heat in the granite rock that lies 500 metres below could supply enough hot water and steam to extract oil from the tarry sands. (Clean Break; Feb. 10, 2007)
  • Massive Oilfield Could Use New System - Duvernay Petroleum is to use the Toe-to-Heel Air Injection system to exploit a massive heavy oilfield in Canada. THAI™ is very efficient, recovering about 70% - 80% of the oil, compared to 10% - 40%, for less than 10 dollars a barrel. The Athabasca Oil Sands region is the single largest petroleum deposit on earth. (ScienceDaily; Nov. 29, 2007)
  • Shell Oil Film: Eureka - "Where ideas come from the most unlikely places." Surprisingly candid movie short on Shell website addresses dwindling oil supply and need for renewables, while noting the existing need to continue the oil supply whilst alternatives are developed, such as the ability to reach more pockets with the same wells through horizontal drilling. (Shell; ~July 2007)
  • Survey: 70+% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil - 40% believe plastic will biodegrade at some point. In truth, nearly 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption – approximately 2 million barrels a day – is used to make non-biodegradable plastic. Survey was cosponsored by Metabolix, Inc., a company using bioscience to provide clean solutions for plastics, fuels and chemicals. (BusinessWire; Apr. 20)

See listing: Plastic and Energy - Non-oil-derived plastics, recycling plastic, solar applications of plastic; and other alternative, clean-energy related applications or contexts of plastic. (FreeEnergyNews.com)

  • Zeolite used to convert crude oil to gasoline - Porous crystalline solids used as a catalyst for efficient fuel processing, environmentally friendly air conditioning, green energy storage, waste filtering and emissions reduction. A team of Korean scientists uses it to convert inexpensive intermediate crude oil to valuable gasoline. (PESWiki)
  • Experts doubt oil shale answer to energy crisis - Extracting commercial amounts is like a mirage: every time it is approached, it just keeps retreating into the distance. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the source exceeds 6 trillion barrels of heavy oil and bitumen, a third of which may be recoverable. (Scripps Howard News Service; May 2, 2006)
  • "Carbon Free" Power Station Planned in Scotland - The project would convert natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2), then use the hydrogen to fuel a power station and ship the CO2 to a North Sea oil field to increase oil recovery and for storage ultimately. (Reuters; July 1, 2005)

[A step forward? What's to keep an earthquake from releasing the sequestered CO2?]

  • Plans Unveiled for Large Hydrogen Energy Plant - Arrangement in Scotland will help increase the output of a North Sea oil operation while at the same time providing clean power from what will be the largest hydrogen energy power plant ever built. (Renewable Energy Access; June 7, 2005)

Government & Politics

  • Haiti >
    Haiti is full of oil (translated) - Haiti's oil reserves are larger than those of Venezuela, which is one of the world's largest producers of oil. The Haitian deposits are declared strategic reserves of the United States of America. (Metropole Haiti; January 28, 2008)
  • Featured: Oil / Conspiracy >
    Sex, Drugs, and Rockin' Oil - Are we surprised to find out that the U.S. government employees who oversee offshore oil drilling turn out to be literally and figuratively 'in bed' with the oil industry? A compilation of news stories about this scandal. (PESN; Sept. 11, 2008)
  • Oil rises on modest Saudi increase, Nigeria - Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar. (Yahoo Finance; June 23, 2008)
  • Rockefellers Call for Change at Exxon Mobil - Members of the Rockefeller family are calling on Exxon Mobil Corp to make corporate governance changes and adopt a renewable fuels strategy to help address the soaring cost of energy. Grandaughter calls on Exxon to reconnect with the forward-looking vision of her great grandfather (Reuters; Apr. 30, 2008) (Thanks Tedd St. Rain)
  • $200 Oil If War With Iran - Richard Haass the President of the Council on Foreign Relations and Bilderberg luminary has predicted that the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program could come to a head within the next few months and that war with Iran would result in oil prices rising to $200 a barrel. (RogueGovernment; Oct. 28, 2007)
  • Enduring an Occupation for Oil - Last week Iraq's Maliki government asked President Bush for an enduring strategic security relationship with the United States that will have 50,000 US military and probably 50,000-75,000 US contractors/mercenaries in Iraq for decades; with an agreement for preferential treatment from the Iraqi government to American corporations. (Truthout; Dec. 5, 2007)
  • How ExxonMobil Funded Global Warming Skeptics - ExxonMobil Corp. gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 in an effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. (Boston Globe/Associated Press; Jan. 4, 2007) (See Slashdot discussion)
  • Bush Says US Addicted to Oil, Must Make Changes - "The best way to break this addiction is through technology." Sets target of reducing US oil imports from the Middle East 75% by 2025. Plan focuses on cellulosic ethanol as fuel alternative. (FinFacts; Feb. 1, 2006) (Also Reuters)
  • America dependent on domestic fuel] - New activist site considers how America can reduce gasoline prices, gain independence from OPEC, create a new energy industry based on the gassification of coal. Considers the costs and benefits of biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, and hybrid cars.
  • Video: Who killed JFK Jr.? (George W. Bush did) - The brave soul who produced "Loose Change" brings an equally disturbing documentary showing that JFK, Jr.'s death was not an airplane accident, but an assassination, and that George W. Bush was the key perpetrator, securing his seat in a global conspiracy that keeps Big Oil in power.

Humor

  • US: security features of new five-dollar bill are on the money - "The redesigned five-dollar bill's enhanced security features help ensure we stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect your hard-earned money," Federal Reserve Board official Michael Lambert said at a ceremony to launch the new bill. (AFP; March 13, 2008)
  • Bush Vows To Eliminate U.S. Dependence On Oil By 4920 - Onion lampoon describes President Bush's aggressive plan "free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels within 85 generations" -- less than three millennia from now -- with possibly solutions including using humans for fuel. (Onion; Aug. 10, 2005)
  • The Halliburton SurvivaBall™ - In order to head off catastrophic scenarios from global warming, scientists agree we must reduce our carbon emissions by 70% within the next few years. Doing that would seriously undermine corporate profits, however, and so a more forward-thinking solution presented as a one-size-fits-all protective orb. (HaliburtonContracts.com; May 11, 2006) [spoof site]
  • Addicted to Oil - Flash animation lampoons U.S. presidential administration policy regarding oil. Encourages action to "separate oil and state." (Huffington Post) (Thanks David Cutter)
  • Make your own SUV ad - GM is running a contest where you make your own ad for the Chevy Tahoe. They let you pick the pictures, add the text and music. Some green-thinkers have been having a bit of fun with this. Be sure to see the comments section. (TreeHugger; Mar. 31, 2006)
  • Fill 'er up! - Cartoonist Mark Fiore lampoons American public and corporate greed that myopically drives global instability. (CBS News; May 4, 2006)
  • I Can't Afford My Gasoline - Cartoon flash animation humorously depicts the causes and ramifications of the oil price increases. (AtomFilms; R. F Directo)

Pricing

  • Opec says oil could hit $200 - Opec’s president Chakib Khelil as Algeria’s energy minister warned oil prices could hit $200 a barrel and there would be little the cartel could do to help. (The Financial Times; April 28, 2008)
  • Exxon Mobil Makes Monster Profit - The oil giant posted the largest annual profit ever by a U.S. company: $40.6 billion. Exxon Mobil benefited from historic crude prices at year's end. (CBS News; Feb. 1, 2008)
  • Gas Price Gouging - Call It Like It Is - OpEd alleges that despite no current federal law defining the term, oil companies are "price gouging" the American people, abusing "fears of a Turkish invasion of Kurdish Northern Iraq and administration saber rattling about Iran" while "there is no actual shortage." (Earth Times; Oct. 31, 2007)
  • A Picture is Worth... Gasoline Consumption Per Day - According to BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2005, the U.S. uses more petrol than the next twenty leading consumer nations combined. The US pays a significantly lower price for its petrol at the pump than most. (TreeHugger; July 11)
  • Behind the High Price of Gas - It's not Big Oil that's driving up the cost of crude oil and gasoline, it's Big Government. While impeding new domestic sources, for every gallon at $3.00/gallon, big oil gets 10 cents, while government gets 59 cents. (New American; June 26, 2006)
  • Driving America Off Oil - David Friedman, research director of the Clean Vehicles Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, says that a transition to clean, renewable alternatives to oil will be complex, expensive and technically challenging. (Renewable Energy Access; Jan. 9, 2005)
  • Gouging in the Name of Peak Oil - Oil companies posting huge profits, taking advantage of the perception of scarcity from Hubert's Peak theory that may actually be mostly hype, considering the known existence of renewable magma oil. (PESN; Aug. 26, 2005)
  • Big Oil's obscene profits - Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, announced a 32 percent boost in second-quarter profits, the third-largest increase in company history. Royal Dutch Shell, the world's third-largest oil company, reported second-quarter profits up 34 percent. British Petroleum's were up 29 percent. ConocoPhillips, America's third-largest, reported profits that skyrocketed by 51 percent. (Cincinnati Post; Aug. 4, 2005)
  • Oil Majors' 1st-Quarter Earnings Shoot Up - As consumers struggle with high gasoline prices, Exxon Mobil Corp. revenue totaled more than $82 billion in the first three months of 2005. The world's largest publicly traded oil company boosted its profit by 44 percent, to $7.86 billion, from the corresponding quarter a year ago. That left Exxon with a cash hoard of $30 billion. (subscription-The Washington Post; April 29, 2005)
  • Fill 'er up? Gas 'absolute steal' - Even with the recent spike in gas prices, Americans still are paying about the same for gasoline as they paid during the Carter administration, adjusting for inflation. (Deseret News; US; April 5, 2005)

Recycling & Recovering

See *Recycling

  • Making Sour Gas Into Sweet Energy - Microturbines can be used to capture the energy from the 27% of gas consumption that is presently lost to flaring at refineries. The small engines boast a higher sulfur tolerance than do reciprocating engines and reduced total emissions from flaring operations at the field by an average of 75%. (Distributed Energy; May/June 2008)
  • 'Plastic oil' could improve fuel economy in cars - Chemists say that recycled plastic bottles could one day be used to lubricate your car's engine. These polyethylene-derived oils could help improve fuel economy and reduce the frequency of oil changes. (EurekAlert; June 12, 2005)
  • Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil - Global Resource Corporation can turn plastics back into the oil they were made from, and gas (and a few leftovers), using a finely tuned microwave that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. (New Scientist; June 26, 2007) (See Slashdot discussion)
  • No trouble removing oil from water - A simple tank-and-siphon system for removing oil from oily water and protecting the environment is about to be launched internationally by an engineering team from the University of New South Wales. (PESN; Aug. 5, 2005)

Research & Development

  • Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol - LS9 claims that this “Oil 2.0" will not only be renewable but also carbon negative – meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made. (Times Online; June 14, 2008)
  • "Carbon Free" Power Station Planned in Scotland - The project would convert natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2), then use the hydrogen to fuel a power station and ship the CO2 to a North Sea oil field to increase oil recovery and for storage ultimately. (Reuters; July 1, 2005)
  • Artificial 'ocean floor' environment created to study methane hydrates - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have recreated the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions of the seafloor in a tabletop apparatus for the study of methane-hydrates, an abundant but currently out-of-reach source of natural gas trapped within sediments below the ocean floor. (PhysOrg; March 14, 2005)

Coverage

  • Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - A must-watch movie for our generation. Especially interesting to those of us in the energy field inasmuch as part of the fraud included playing with California's energy supply for nearly a year. (PESWiki)
  • Chevron Promotes Alternative Energy - Chevron is a major player in the petroleum-based energy, yet it is taking major steps toward embracing the development of alternative energy, devoting $300 million/year to that end. See recent TV advertisement. (Alternative Energy News; Oct. 24, 2007)
  • Chrysler blasts Big Oil - "Despite a documented history of blowing their exorbitant profits on outlandish executive salaries and stock buybacks, and hoarding their bounty by avoiding technologies, policies and legislation that would protect the population and environment and lower fuel costs, Big Oil insists on transferring all of that responsibility on the auto companies." (Detroit Free Press; Apr. 11, 2006)

Cautions

  • Tar Sands - the New Toxic Investment - The report, BP and Shell, Rising Risks in Tar Sands Investment, co-authored by Greenpeace and fellow campaign group Platform, argues that oil majors are trying to make up a shortfall in conventional reserves by an irresponsible dash to extract oil from bitumen and other sources. (Truthout; Sept 17, 2008)

Quiz quotients

What do you know about oil?

Directories

See also

- Other Directory listings • Latest • A-I • J-R • S-Z • Tree • News
- PESWiki home page

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