CRUDE OIL AND BIG BUSINESS Crude oil is a thick liquid found beneath Earth’s surface We use oil products for everything from asphalt on roads to gasoline in vehicles to plastic in bread bags Saudi Arabia and Russia each provide 13 percent of the world’s supply of crude oil The United States supplies another 12 percent and Canada follows in fourth place at 5 percent Governments and private companies play different roles in getting oil from the ground to the consumers or the people who buy and use the oil OIL COMPANIES In the United States and Canada many oil production companies are independent and operate only in their home country Some operate across North America A few U S oil companies operate internationally including ExxonMobil Chevron and ConocoPhillips Oil production is big business In 2018 ExxonMobil was estimated to be worth 344 billion Chevron is worth 239 billion and ConocoPhillips comes in at around 79 billion Oil pipelines transport oil to consumers They often run through previously undisturbed landscapes 6
There are almost half a million oil wells in the United States Crude oil production rose 10 percent in 2017 BIG WORLD OF OIL Oil production companies are motivated by profit or making a lot of money To make as much money as possible the companies want to develop oil resources quickly In 2018 in the United States oil production rose to its highest level in nearly 50 years More than 10 million barrels a day were produced Politics are driving this surge in U S oil production The Trump administration proposed spending an extra 281 million on fossil fuel research and development in 2019 At the same time it proposed cuts to programs designed to study and reduce the effects of climate change It also wants to cut further research into forms of renewable energy DARK SCIENCE SECRETS The U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA plays an important role in developing policies that can help the environment In 2016 the EPA wrote a series of rules requiring oil and gas companies to limit methane gas emissions In 2018 the changes made by the Trump administration meant that the EPA rules were weakened This has made it easier for energy companies to release methane into the air Methane gas is a powerful greenhouse gas and it greatly contributes to climate change 7
REACHING OIL Companies drill for oil on land and in offshore waters Offshore drilling operations are conducted from oil rigs These are platforms on which the drilling equipment is located In 2018 the U S government said that they wanted to open up nearly all American offshore waters for potential oil and gas drilling ROBOT POWER Technological and scientific developments are expanding the search for new sources of oil Scientific advances are also helping maintain current offshore oil rigs BP has a large oil platform called Thunder Horse in the U S Gulf of Mexico A dog-sized robot the MaggHD also known as Maggie is used to check the underwater pipes at Thunder Horse Maggie uses magnetic tracks to creep along the pipes that connect the surface platform to the seafloor The robot inspects the pipes as it travels using ultrasound and cameras Other smart devices such as 8 Maggie carries a video camera and floodlights to check for cracks in underwater pipelines mini-submarines and drones are being used to replace workers in dangerous situations on oil rigs For example drones can be used to inspect exhaust systems instead of having a person climb high on an oil platform They save lives and money
HIDDEN DANGERS In 2010 Deepwater Horizon became the most expensive offshore drilling disaster in U S history The oil rig exploded and oil shot out uncontrollably The well was plugged 87 days after the explosion but 3 19 million barrels of oil had already polluted the Gulf of Mexico It was the largest marine oil spill in history By 2018 the cost of the cleanup settling lawsuits and other losses totalled a staggering 65 billion Eleven people were killed and more than 1,300 miles 2,100 km of shoreline and coastal and ocean floor habitats were affected DARK SCIENCE SECRETS Life on an oil rig has always been dangerous but today new risks are emerging Cybercrime costs offshore oil and gas companies millions of dollars every year in damaged equipment and lost production In 2012 an employee at Saudi Arabian Oil Company opened an e-mail containing a virus Computer files immediately disappeared and computers shut down In a matter of hours more than 30,000 computers were affected The company was forced to temporarily stop selling oil because it could not process payments Cyberattacks like this are a growing issue in oil and gas companies The attacks can come from activists fighting for political and environmental causes as well as terrorists trying to disrupt oil supplies After the Deepwater Horizon explosion the U S government created important safety rules but the current Trump administration wants to reverse them to save costs for oil companies 9
