Oil Spills Essays (Examples)

(Tanner, 1)

The tanker, which ran afoul of a support girding for the Bay Bridge, released the remarkable amount of oil into an area which is highly populated by plants, animals and people, and is also incidentally ensconced on three sides by the now tainted Pacific waters. In the immediate aftermath of the event, it was clear that such areas as San Francisco had taken the brunt of this poorly administered ecological threat and that there sacrifice should be seen as a justification for such steps are attempting to gain a global standard on ship safety, guidance and insulation from rupture. The degree to which the spill was destructive and centered in a place of import or public note -- as opposed ot the Alaskan remoteness of the Exxon Valdez spill -- should help to highlight a clear need for a change. Indeed, "the oil spill in San Francisco Bay…

Fluctuations in any natural ecosystem have the potential to wreak havoc on the environment and animal populations as a whole.

The impact of environmental oil spills has been studied for decades, thus there is a certain predictive quality regarding the events that will occur immediately after an oil spill. One might assume that if the nature of oil spills and recovery efforts are predictive, than adequate measures can be taken to prevent the devastation most often associated with these spills. This is not however always the case.

Among the primary biological impacts of an oil spill include: (1) physical and chemical alteration of the natural habitat, (2) physical smothering of fauna and flora, (3) lethal and sub-lethal toxic effects on marine and wildlife and (4) changes in the biological communities including organisms and animal (Dicks, 1998). Not one of these effects can be described as minor, rather all of them…

Oil Spill Damage

The effects of oil spills have had lasting effects on the marine and terrestrial ecosystems that affect the respiratory, food chain, and reproductive systems of marine and terrestrial wildlife for decades. "Human activity has depleted marine species 90%, seagrass and wetland habitat 65%, and degraded water quality 10-1,000 fold" (Narisimha). A major portion of these statistics has been due to oil spills. It has been difficult for scientists to measure the actual effects of an oil spill due to the fact that one oil spill has affects that last decades. There has been more than 320 known offshore drilling oil spills since 1964 alone (A Deadly Toll: The Gulf Oil Spill and the Unfolding Wildlife Disaster, 2011).

On April 20, 2010, P spilled 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 tons of methane in the Gulf of Mexico over a three-month time period, creating one of the…

So far, this is not the case, and oil companies only pay royalties on production. This is another area under scrutiny in the MMS scandal. There are reports, dating back to 2008, that the royalty offices of the MMS, located in Denver, routinely accepted oil company numbers on the amount of oil they produced, rather than independently auditing the numbers. No one knows how much lost revenue to the government that practice resulted in, and there is no way of finding out now. Clearly, future policy formation on the industry needs to include more oversight, more regulations, and a much less cozy relationship between the regulators and the companies they are regulating.

Future policy formation on other energy sources

The Gulf spill has helped to change public opinion on oil and its production, and on how it is regulated. It seems much clearer after the spill that we are a…

However, this calmness did not translate into crisis management success. Although BP seemed to not be significantly affected by the situation, Hayward stated that the company was overwhelmed by the media attention. The former CEO blames the press for the image that the public has formed on the company in response to its handling of the situation.

The control that the company was supposed to reveal did not match the intensity of the crisis. BP did not show that it fully controlled the situation. The fact that the company tried to share the blame with the rig owner and the drilling company reveals the fact that the company was not in control of the situation. The numerous attempts and strategies that the company developed and implemented in order to stop or reduce the oil spill also prove the lack of control from BP.

The lack of control showed by BP…

Gulf Spill

In the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, about thirty percent of the oil, and "the most volatile fraction" of it, evaporated in a period of about ten hours (Handwerk, 2011). This was the primary aerosol emanation Another ten to twenty percent evaporated over the course of the next few days, and those turned into a wide plume of aerosol that was later identified as being comprised of intermediate or semi-volatile organic compounds (Xie, 2011). This secondary aerosol was composed of both light and heavy types of hydrocarbons, which have contributed to air pollution over a wide area (Handwerk, 2011). Ironically, the pattern of aerosol evaporation from the oil spill has advanced scientific understanding of how secondary aerosols form after the initial chemical conversion from their most volatile compounds (Xie, 2011). According to the EPA (2014), in addition to volatile organic compounds, the oil spill…

Rawl confessed that it was "bad judgement involved in even putting a person with a critical skill back in that kind of work...It is pretty clear we have to tighten those things up" (Loeb pp).

hen asked what advice he had for other CEOs, Rawl stated that they had better prethink which way they are going to jump from a public affairs standpoint before they have any kind of a problem, and cautioned that they should always have a public affairs plan, no matter how hard it is to think in terms of disasters (Loeb pp).

orks Cited

Davis, Nancy Y. The Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska. Retrieved October 30, 2005 from http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu21le/uu21le0l.htm

Details About the Accident. Retrieved October 30, 2005 at http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/facts/details.html

Loeb, Marshall. (1989 May 08). In ten years you'll see 'nothing.' (interview with Exxon CEO Lawrence Rawl about the Valdez oil spill). Fortune. Retrieved October 30, 2005…

"But we did kill a lot of resources," said Beck. That having been said, Beck does believe that some habitat losses -- and some that occurred prior to the oil spill -- can be "re-engineered" if the marshes receive the attention they deserve to receive.

Meanwhile, the assertion that the oil has dissipated and there is "very little" oil that is recoverable goes against the tone of a story in USA Today (Jervis, 2010, p. 3A) on October 19. Jervis writes that "Swaths of fresh oil flatten miles of march grass and cane weeds" in Bay Jimmy in Louisiana. Indeed, although BP has pulled back workers, more than 32,000 gallons of oil were removed (sucked out by industrial vacuum cleaners operated by workers in hazardous materials suits) during a recent 10-day period in Bay Jimmy (Jervis).

"People think it's over," said P.J. Hahn, the coastal zone director for Plaquemines Parish.…

283). This led to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This Act acknowledged the fact that there was a lack of knowledge about the ocean ecosystem. This was an important insight and "At its core, NEPA requires federal agencies to produce an environmental impact statement (EIS) whenever they propose a major federal action" but " it was unclear from the original language of the statute whether the lease of oil exploration rights was covered" (othbach, 2007, p. 283). However, in 1978 Congress amended this Act with regard to the current state of the law governing the leasing of offshore oil exploration rights. The 1978 amendments "…specifically state that if a plan for development and exploration of offshore oil resources is a major federal action, then an EIS must be produced" (othbach, 2007, p. 283). These events were to contribute to the growing concern about the environmental impact of…

oil drilling and towards this end this study will examine issues related to oil drilling and specifically as oil drilling relates to the environment.

According to 'Live Science' when it comes to oil drilling "there are extremes on both sides." (2014, p. 1) Firstly, the attempt to "pin down the impact of seismic waves on wildlife often must rely on caged animals" when it comes to experiements in the laboratory. (Live Science, 2014, p. 1) I ti sreported that Exxon Mobile has to suspend Madagascar exploration for oil when in exxcess of 100 whales ended up beaching themselves. (Live Science, 2014, paraphrased) There are however, some important advances in the process of drilling oil in terms of bringing about a reduction in the environmental footprint and stated specifically is that the oil companies "are now able to drain several oil fields from one platform. And new horizontal drilling techniques allow…

price of oil has fallen from around $120 per barrel about a year and half ago to around $50 per barrel. This has resulted in a sharp fall in revenues for all oil companies and specially the smaller companies that have a limited cash or revenue reserve. IN this condition this paper studies the possible strategies that can adopted by smaller oil companies to tide over the situation.

For this study we take the case of BNK Petroleum. The study reveals that the company expended more than three forth of its revenue of exploration which was one of the major causes of losses. It was recommended that the company should reduce its exploration expenses and look to venture into new markets of South America and Africa. To enable financing of marketing expenses in these markets, it has also been recommended that the company dilute some of its equity. To further…

Exxon Mobile Analysis

Industry Background

Exxon Mobile operates in the oil and gas industry which is one of the most valuable industries in the world. Oil fuels much of our modern lives and allows us the mobility granted by the automobile and the infrastructure that allows for easy transportation. Within the industry, ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company (ExxonMobil, N.d.). The industry is multifaceted and is composed of many different segments -- everything from the exploration of oil, the refinement process, and the transportation via ship, tanker, or pipeline. The industry as a whole can be thought of as containing three primary components: upstream, midstream, and downstream. The oil and gas is of critical importance to the world's economy because there are many other industries are directly dependent upon these fuels. For example, oil can be used as a raw material to produce many…

Anyanwu and Obire (2009) note that oil spills like those seen in the Niger Delta leave soil barren for years, devastating not only the resources that were present at the time of the spill, but eliminating any resources that could be reaped from the area in future years (Anyanwu and Obire 211). This notion was mirrored by a 2009 agricultural study conducted in the area of the Niger Delta, which found that the negative impact of the oil spills on agricultural production was found to, reduce crop yield, pollute the rivers for fishing, and reduce land productivity and farm income, along with the standard of living of the Nigerian people (Aviomoh, Okoh and Ojogwu 62).

The future state of the affected area continues to look bleak, especially from the outside world who is largely incapable of understanding Nigerian motivations to continue serving the oil industry in a manner that sacrifices…

It remains uncertain, therefore, that the Exxon Valdez spill was not, in fact, larger in scale and scope than the Horizon disaster.

Conclusion:

The Horizon disaster, as it bears noting, helps to demonstrate how little has truly changed in two decades. Even as environmental concerns grow ever-more pressing, oil companies continue to act with relative impunity. The sheer profitability of the industry keeps it insulated from many of the safety and environmental terms that impact so many other industries. As the most precious finite commodity in the global economy, crude oil controls its own international orbit such that domestic environmental laws and safety regulatory standards may be easily bypassed. Indeed, as the Exxon Valdez events and the Horizon Deepwater events thereafter demonstrate unequivocally, only the occasionally catastrophic disaster serves to illuminate the constancy of irregular, illicit and illegal practices on the part of the oil industry as a whole.

orks…

John Perkins (2007), likewise, examines how the modern American Empire has affected our economy and our society in his book the Secret History of the American Empire.

Perkins reveals nothing new when he contends that the United States makes up "less than 5% of the world's population…[yet] consumes more than 25% of the world's resources" (p. 5). What he does do with this information is use it as a platform from which to analyze America's position in the global arena. How is America able to consume so much? According to Perkins, "this is accomplished to a large degree through the exploitation of other countries, primarily in the developing world" (p. 5).

As Howard Zinn points out, European powers, beginning in 1897, were pushing their way into China, a potential nation ripe for exploitation. The only problem was that America was not in on the action. What Zinn shows is how…

Regulating Oil and Gas Drilling and Transport

The American economy runs on energy produced from oil, coal, natural gas, hydroelectric power, nuclear power and renewable sources like solar and wind energies. In fact according to a report in the Congressional Research Service, oil provides the United States with 40% of its total energy needs. It is used in myriad ways, providing "…fuel for the transportation, industrial, and residential sectors" (Ramseur, 2012). Because of the great need for energy to fuel the American economy, oil in "vast quantities" enters the country and moves through the country by ships and by pipelines, Ramseur explains in the Congressional Research Service. Hence, it is inevitable that some spills will occur, and they certainly do occur, notwithstanding the attempts by the industry to conduct its business safely.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the U.S. consumed 6.87 billion barrels (about 18.83 million barrels…

The workforce should be clear about the implementation of technologies for protecting natural resources, through formulating strategies.

atification of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 1984 Protocols

Domestic legislation on compensation and liability is needed to implement two IMO protocols related to compensation and liability. The United States should ratify the 1984 Protocols to the 1969 Civil Liability and the 1971 Fund Conventions. Expeditious ratification is essential to ensure international agreement on responsibilities associated with oil spills around the world' (A eport to the President: Executive Summary).

Introduction of Safeguards

It is imperative to establish such environmental safeguards so as to minimize the possibility of oil spillage, by improving transportation, production, storing facilities. 'The infrequency of major oil spills in recent years contributed to the complacency that exacerbated the effect of the Exxon Valdez spill' (CNN: Exxon found guilty).

Legislation on liability and compensation is needed

The Exxon Valdez incident has…

Cousins issued right rudder commands to result in the desired course change and took the ship off autopilot. While such efforts did not result in turning swiftly Cousins ordered further right rudder with increasing urgency. The bumpy ride and six very sharp jolts occurred at 12:04 AM. The vessel grounded towards southwest balanced across its middle on a pinnacle of Bligh eef. Eight of the eleven oil tanks punctured flooding about 5.8 million gallons out of the tanker in the first three and quarter hours. The confessions at NTSB indicated that Cousins may have been awake and normally at work for up to 18 hours preceding the accident. There is the evidence of direct impact of fatigue on human performance error and recognized that about 80% or more of marine accidents are attributable to human error. (Details about the Accident)

The circumstantial factors like prolonged duty hours, poor working conditions,…

corporate and public shortcomings that arguably resulted in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill marked the U.S.'s worst environmental disaster. Whilst identifying the corporate and state cover-ups the triggered the disaster, this study recommends some of the solutions that can be adopted to prevent future disasters. BP's corporate flaws are largely to blame for the disaster.

The 20th of April of 2010 marked the largest oil spill disaster in the U.S. referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Lehner & Deans 2010). On this day, a fire explosion resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The catastrophe led to the deaths of 11 workers. BP owned the oil well while Halliburton did the cementing of the well. Transocean Company was the owner of the rig. The three companies engaged in blame games while efforts to deter the oil spill lasted…

The simple fact is this that the initiation of offshore oil drilling can be used effectively as a threat to lower the overall importing prices of oil from the Middle East States. The actual drilling, if looking at its impact internally, might or might not result in the actual decrease in gas prices or increase of alternative fuel and energy production. But in the recent times, the real reason for such a high debate on the offshore drilling aspect has been to use it merely as a strategy and a negotiation tool.

This approach and application of this strategy is something that neither I, nor people like who think that offshore drilling has more negative effects then positive, have a problem with. I do have a problem however with how offshore drilling is portrayed as the savior for the American dependency on foreign oil. Its like love is cast off…

Exxon's position was that they were open and honest with the press, but the author's experiences instead show a company that will do anything to cover its' tracks and its' inadequacies. He notes, "The response to stricken animals was forced upon Exxon by the Department of the Interior and the public. Exxon's interest in tourism was also one of alleviating its own bad reputation; most of the 1,090 miles of oiled shoreline had been insufficiently treated" (Keeble 227). Exxon did what it had to do to look good to the public. As the author notes, they "threw money" toward the problem but had no real plan of attack or idea how they would actually clean the entire affected area. Exxon used its power and money to look good, rather than really fix the problem.

Perhaps the most frightening part of this book is the power that Exxon wielded over the…

Environmental Science class.. Title the Oil Industry Environment

APA Guidelines format 4-6 References I 4-6 Pages ritten text photos / data tables

The effects of the Oil Industry on the Environment

In spite of the fact that society has experienced significant moral progress in the recent decades, people continue to associate well-being with financial profits regardless of the effects that their actions have on society and this is reflected by the fact that the oil industry has inflicted great damage on the environment in the last few years. The fact that society has come to depend on oil makes it especially difficult for someone to experience positive results as a result of criticizing individuals involved in the oil business. Communities who have access to free oil wells are privileged and society has virtually learnt to exploit any oil source that it can possibly find. This has devastating consequences on the…

Preventing Spills With Countermeasures

Every manufacturing facility that is dealing with potentially hazardous or toxic materials should, in all good faith, have a Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) plan. There are several key components of such a plan, including dedicated phone numbers for emergency and specific personnel responsible for answering them. (EPA, 2002). Having such a plan should be considered just another operating expense for the manufacturing entity, much like any other cost associated with maintaining such a plant. In fact, the pros of such a plan drastically outweigh the cons. Disadvantages of such a plan are primarily centered around its cost. That cost both pertains to the initial construction of the plan and the updates to it that are necessary to account for every process change. Moreover, that cost factors both into monetary factors as well as those pertaining to time, energy, and human labor to revise the…

Environmental egulators or Epa

ENVIONMENTAL EGULATIONS IN A MANUFACTUING FACILITY

Oil spills are often and always dangerous to the surrounding environment. Oil spills should always be treated with care since they are bound to make travels for a long distance from the point of the spill. This situation is dangerous when no action is taken bearing in mind that water is a primary resource for human living. Actions should be taken with an immediate effect. The surrounding environment has a possibility of the infiltration of oil into the water reservoirs just near the spillage point. There is also the possibility of a surface runoff in the case that there are rains within the area. Many living organisms will be affected by the spill. One is the life of the plants within that area. In the case the spill spreads to any region, it will affect the natural situation of the…

Because the cost associated with fueling the cars will increase, individuals might come up with ways of reducing the consumption of fuel, they will thus use public transportation. When a rise in the prices of gas results into an increase in transportation ridership, the revenues from fare are likely to rise, and the extra costs of fuel for the transport operator will be offset partly. Numerous news reports in the United States are indicating that transportation ridership has gone up with the increase in the prices of the gases; however, little research has been done to prove this association. When there is an effect on ridership, it will be fascinating to notice whether the result is short-lived or a long lived phenom-enon. Therefore, a rapid price increase is capable of resulting into a jump in transport ridership. To become accustomed to the high prices of gas, transporters might buy additional…

Take the oil drain pan and, using the funnel, empty the old oil into the milk jugs for easy disposal. Seal them up tight and wipe any spills off.

ipe off the funnel and put it in the oil filler hole under the hood. Pour in as many quarts as it will take -- usually about six for the 2005 Chevy Silverado. As you wait for the oil to fill, you can start cleaning up. Throw away the newspapers and wipe down any tools that got dirtied up. Be sure to recycle the oil containers instead of just throwing them out. After the oil is all in, screw the cap back on and check the dipstick for the oil level just to be sure you got the right amount in. Place the old filter in the Ziploc bag and seal it up.

To check for leaks, start the engine and…

A petroleum geologist against drilling in the area writes, "For all practical purposes, the refuge is utterly pristine. It also encompasses an area 26 times larger than Yosemite National Park, almost nine times the size of Yellowstone" (Herndon). While few visitors seek out the Refuge, there are several small native villages in and around the area, and these Native Americans rely on the bounty of the Refuge for their continued survival. These Gwich'in people oppose drilling in the ANWR for a number of important reasons. They feel it will permanently damage the tender tundra, which is easily damaged and non-renewable once it has been damaged, and it could affect the Porcupine Elk herd, which migrates through the area, as well. Drilling could disrupt their traditional birthing and nursery grounds, which could cause them to migrate along a different route. Since the Gwich'in people rely on the caribou for sustenance, this…

(Braunschweig; Day, 150)

Most of the current generation of project managers expects the project management tools to furnish them with almost real-time knowledge in order to facilitate their decision-making. Some of these tools like DOFF, "Field of the Future," "Smart Fields," Microsoft's "Oilfield Connectivity" and i-Fields are currently being examined by exploration and production oil companies. Some of these tools have the capability of generating information from apparently incongruent data and helping managers take important decisions based on them. (Oilfield Connectivity - Capturing the Value of the Digital Era)

There is substantial amount of risk in oil exploration and production since the concerned target is located many thousands of feet under the ground. There are a number of factors that can cause uncertainties and risks in these fields which may include the weather, people, geology, safety, and availability of tools and equipment. Agility is an important requirement in the oil…

BP Oil Spill

Strategy and Corporate Governance

The bp oil spill of 2010

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the largest oil exploring companies in the world. It is recognized for its efficient practices. In recent years it has positioned itself as an environmentally responsible company by stressing its commitment to undertaking exploration activities by causing minimum harm to the natural environment. It has also invested in technologies to make drilling under the seabed more secure so that oil spills do not occur. However, these claims were brought into question on April 20, 2012 when a massive explosion and oil spill took place on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig over the Macondo oil well in the U.S. Gulf. There was huge damage to the marine environment and to the livelihood of people living in the coastal communities in Louisiana and other coastal states. The poor response of the company was…

Legislation on liability and compensation is needed.

The United States should ratify the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 1984 Protocols.

Federal planning for oil spills must be improved.

Studies of the long-term environmental and health effects must be undertaken expeditiously and carefully.

How NOAA responds to spills?

NOAA is a 24/7 service that monitors and waits for a help if there is a spill. They help protect and conserve the natural resources. As soon as they got call they go to the scene as fast as possible. They inspect the vessel, and study the spill, damage and spread in the affected area. We determine the success of their operation through the response of NOAA. NOAA Office of Response and Restoration has a mission based on the online source, http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2353.htm:

OR& R. is currently assisting with trajectory modeling, oil fate forecasting, weather, and information management and participating in over flights and resource…

Wicked Problem: oyal Dutch Shell and Its esponse to the Nigerian Oil Spill

Major oil companies such as oyal Dutch Shell are responsible for hundreds of oil spills every year that cumulatively involve millions of barrels of oil. The harmful effects of such oil spills on the environment is well documented of course, but less well documented are the different types and levels of responses that are used in response to oil spills in developing nations and those used in affluent nations. While oil spills such as British Petroleum's recent rupture of its Macondo well offshore United States are the focus of a massive and expensive coordinated response, far less attention is paid to oil spills that affect emerging nations such as Nigeria. This is not to say, of course, that all major oil companies -- including oyal Dutch Shell -- are completely abrogating their corporate responsibilities for oil spill…

firms have been focused on social responsibility. This is when a company will engage in different practices that take into account the viewpoints of various stakeholders (such as: communities, the environment and the impact on the firm).

In the case of Chevron, they claim that they are committed to protecting the environment at all costs.

Evidence of this can be seen with company's Operational Excellence Management System. Implemented in 2007, this is designed to take into account a number of different viewpoints when starting any kind of new project. The most notable include: possible social, environmental and safety issues. This program is illustrating how the company is focused on addressing issues that will be impacted by their activities.

However, Chevron is also dealing with challenges where they contributed to incidents that harmed the environment, health or interests of other stakeholders (i.e. The Brazilian offshore oil slick). The combination of these…

The Tasman Spirit crew and financiers should work to investigate acute health concerns as well as the marine ecosystem surrounding Karachai. The American Club, likely one of two involved parties with the financial resources to affect significant change in the region which actually suffered the effects of the environmental disaster. ather than working against each other with suits and counter suits and the assorted other motions and legal actions underway, it would be most effective and positive for those two companies to work together with environmental awareness and protection agencies to restore the region.

Step Three

Affected Parties

This portion of the analysis is concerned with the specific affected individual parties. While it is important not to allow empathy for a specific group to outweigh the impartiality of an effective analysis it is also important to understand the relevant human components of a situation especially one which has such a…

Global Law and Politics:

Political and legal institutions and communications have played an integral role in the development and provision of legitimacy in contemporary societies. This has been through the development of obligatory collective decisions, general legal principles, exercise of political power, and resolution of conflicts. In the new global system, these legal and political institutions have created and conveyed social values, political power, and social meaning in every sector of the society. Both of the institutions are considered as legitimate because they have been established on core values that are related to essential freedoms, the rule of law, and democracy.

Aspects of a New Global System:

Modern societies across the globe are faced with critical issues and problems that are dealt with at the global level by the establishment of laws and policies, which are developed in various institutions. Global law and politics has had a significant impact on…

BP Deepwater Horizon

isk is probably one of the most important components of company management, especially in an industry where the potential for disaster -- foreseen or otherwise -- is high. This is particularly so for the oil industry, and also especially in the light of the recent, worst disaster that humanity has ever seen, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While some consider this disaster the result of a risk management shortcoming, others have taken their inquiries deeper and concluded that, in truth, the issue is one that concerns strategic management. As an oil company, BP's strategic management practices before the oil spill have focused primarily on increasing the profit the company could gain from the industry while decreasing the investment required to reach this goal. Those who focus on this component are of the opinion that the company's strategic management focus should have been more clearly delineated in…

BP and how it can impact on the performanve of the firm

In the recent times, a number of people have opposed the strategies that have been developed by BP. The major strategies that have been opposed by individuals is that of stoping the case regarding oil spill in the gulf of mexico.Operational strategy and effectiveness are vital for superior performance which is usually the main aim of all enterprises and organizations. A firm may perform better than its rivals only if the organization is capable of establishing a difference it is capable of preserving. The firms have to deliver higher values to its customers. Besides, the organizations should be capable of creating comparable values at very low costs. Delivering higher values enables companies to charge higher unit prices. Similarly, very great efficiency and effectiveness will result into very low unit costs. Operational effectiveness (OE) implies performing same activities more…

Strategic Framework in BP-Deepwater horizon accident

One of the most eminent names in the oil and gas industry is British Petroleum, considered as the largest provider of oil and gas to its customers for transportation, energy for heating and light and retail services for petrochemical products globally. The financial and operational picture of the company's performance is illustrated in table1 below.

Performance at a glance for 2010

Facts and figures

Sales and other operating revenues

eplacement cost profit

Number of employees

Proved reserves

etail sites

Upstream

efineries (wholly or partly owned)

efining throughput

$297,107 million (year 2010)

($4,519) million (year 2010)

79,700 (at 31 Dec 2010)

18,071 million barrels of oil equivalent

22,100

Active in 29 countries

16

2,426 thousand barrels per day (year 2010)

(BP's Corporate website, 2010)

On 20th April 2010 the company faced a serious challenge when one of its oil rigs started leaking and simply couldn't…

P's Macondo low-Out: Gulf Mexico

The objective of this study is to describe the background setting, water depth. Type of rig, depth of reservoir and unusual characteristics of the P Operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

On April 22, it is reported that an explosion "ripped the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in Macondo Exploration Well/Canyon 252 lock 41 miles off the Louisiana coast. A fire raged for about 36 hours before a second blast sank the rig. The well's blowout preventer failed to activate, resulting in the largest oil leak in history." (Gulf, Oil, and Gas, 2011) The Macondo Exploration Well/Canyon 252 lock is located in the U.S. sector of the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The depth is approximately 5,000 feet and the well drilling depth is 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below the sea level. Reports state that the plans were that the…

BPethics

The British Petroleum (BP) oil spill is now as infamous as it is famous. At the time of the deep water oil rig explosion that killed eleven BP employees, media and environmentalists were calling the resulting oil spill "the greatest ecological disaster ever produced by the oil industry" (Balaguer, 2010, p. 6). While it is certainly true that the oil spill will have some long-term effects, it seems that most of the hype concerning the spill was completely overdone and very short-term in scope. From an ethical point-of-view, BP definitely made some missteps. From the moment of the explosion there should have been some immediate steps taken by BP that were not taken, or if they were taken, they were made rather late in the game. First, BP should have released the information to the victim's loved ones concerning their deaths immediately. Second, acknowledgement of the scope of the…

BP Organizational Behavior

BP PLC Organizational Behavior

Imagine going to work for BP as an engineer to drill oil in the gulf. What would happen if a disaster occurred? Could the company hold up under pressure? How would management react to the situation? One will study the oil disaster in the gulf and how it pertains to human resources, structure, politics and symbolism.

Management signed a five-year contract with Exult Inc. To help transform human resources. They will have capabilities to use the "latest web-enabled technologies and processes" (BP, 1999). This is a first for the organization because it will become a worldwide effort. Each employee/manager will have access to information work as well as life information needed to do their job in an effective manner (BP, 1999).

"e-H services delivery model will assume management, ownership and accountability for BP Amoco's global H administrative and transactional processes" (BP, 1999). One…

) and then transcend the tragedy by attempting to fix the problem. Moreover, BP acted as quickly as a large corporation could in attempting to contain the spill. Has it been effective? Clearly not. but, BP has not given up the cause.

As to the second question, was the company "right" or "wrong" in the follow through that remains to be determined? As of this writing the leak has not been stopped, nor has the clean up truly begun. One cannot predict what the ultimate outcome will be until long after the crisis has been averted.

Ultimately, the question posed, who is watching BP, the obvious answer is the world. This is a disaster of global proportions that is being played out online, on television and the blogosphere. hat should occur is a different matter. Clearly the United States Government has been slow, cumbersome and ineffective in its reaction to…

Governmental CS policies do not only assist consumers or organizations, they assist both the consumer and the organization (The Impact of Government egulations on Corporate Social esponsibility - How Government Policies Shape CS, 2009).

It is often said that international environmental laws do not differ from one another. European environmental regulations are very similar to the U.S. environmental laws. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set up a database that contains all of the contaminated lands in the U.S. This database includes existing and formerly contaminated lands. The European Union, especially France has also put into place databases to track existing and formerly contaminated lands within France. These efforts are there to protect the public from coming into contact with contaminated lands. International governmental environmental policies do not differ from one another in the fact that they all seek to protect the public and the organizations (The Impact of…

mass shooting could have been prevented. The key to knowing what to do in the future is to understand how to recognize signs of mental illness and stability. In this case, the gunman "had been expelled, possibly for behavioral problems." It is clear the school understood that this student had problems. Yet even after the expulsion, the school did not do enough to ensure Goh's mental stability. The issue was not necessarily bullying, as the headline suggests. Students might have been teasing Goh in a good-natured way. After all, a large number of Americans speak English as a second language and it would be odd for someone to get maliciously teased for it. Goh reacted in an extreme way because he was mentally unstable. He had suffered trauma (after the unresolved death of his brother) and had a history of behavioral problems. Students like him need monitoring, counseling and intervention…

Stafford Act can rightly be considered the principle legislation governing emergency and disaster management in the U.S., spelling "out - among other things - how disasters are declared, the types of assistance to be provided, and the cost-sharing arrangements between federal, state, and local governments" (Moss & Shelhamer, 2007, p. 3). FEMA is, essentially, charged with implementing the Act and overseeing its two incident levels - major disasters and emergencies. However, despite the fact that it is put into place several times every year, during declarations of catastrophes and emergencies, the Stafford Act is not without its critics who have outspokenly called for an overhaul to some of is fundamental provisions. The author posits that in its present state, the Stafford Act lacks standardized mitigation procedures, and ought, therefore, to be "reformed to aggressively encourage the reconstruction of improved infrastructure, in addition to providing funding for mitigation projects" (Moss &…

Like most litigations on such complicated issues the company had little to do but show reasonable accommodation, adopt better surface practices and wait out a lengthy period before their liability was reduced substantially by the courts.

Ethical analysis:

The key ethical issues of the case are pretty clear, did the captain knowingly endanger the environment by continuing to retain his position and navigate tankers through the area and did the company know that such was the case. Both ethical dilemmas are clear and were ruled upon by many hours of court time and subsequent appeals, though the final Supreme Court ruling on Exxon's liability for the spill was split 4:4 every other deciding body laid full responsibility on Exxon's lap. ("Exxon Valdez Damages educed," June 2008, NP). An additional ethical issue, though much less openly understood or known by the average American is weather it was ethical to pay fishermen…

Flags of Convenience as they pertain to maritime oil pollution. The writer explores UN and MARPOL mandates and discusses the Flags of Convenience. The writer then ties them into maritime oil pollution and presents recommendations for how this might be solved. There were 15 sources used to complete this paper.

As the world populations continues to grow and live longer than ever before it has become apparent that natural resources must be guarded with the utmost care and protection. It is those natural resources allow mankind to survive therefore their preservation is paramount to the success of the future. One of the biggest threats to the eco-system today is the threat of oil pollution. Through spills, dumping and other accidents the oil pollution in the world has threatened significant areas of the eco-system that are depended on. In recent decades there have been measurements taken to prevent oil pollution from…

Evidence of this can be seen with the company being slow to provide information, on the total amounts of oil that are leaking into the ocean and the various restrictions that they have placed on media coverage. (Lack of Transparency Afflicts Oil Spill Response 2010) This problematic, because when there are restrictions and the company is slow to release information, it appears as if they have something to hide. At which point, the public will become furious with the company, from their perceived unwillingness to cooperate. This could have negative political fallout, as various Congressional Committees and regulators will demand all documents relating to the spill. Once this take place, it sets the stage for an ugly showdown with Congress and the White House. Where, they could seek to force the company to disclose more documents and engage in criminal investigations, as these actions give the appearance that executives are…

Crisis and Disaster

The running of any Government, Community, Society or even an Organization for that matter is, no doubt, a very complicated matter. The main reason for this complication is the many arrays of problems and situations that can arise and each one of them demands special attention to cater to. This makes the smooth running of any setup, then, a big challenge for the concerned authorities. However, this smooth running turn into more of a challenge in the face of a disaster or a crisis, which can completely turn the entire setup upside down.

Before an analysis of the Frontline Documentary "The Spill" can be presented, it is important that we understand the background of the event presented and the difference between crisis and disaster and how it ties up to the incident in question.

Merriam ebster defines Crisis as "A situation that has reached a critical phase"…

British Petroleum

hat is BP

British Petroleum (BP) is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies in terms of production capacity and revenue; BP explores for oil and natural gas in approximately 30 countries and possesses proved reserves of 18.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Hoovers, 2004).

BP owns 16 refineries

BP processes 4 million barrels of crude oil per day

BP markets these products in 80 countries

BP owns a network of 22,400 gas stations

BP's Global Projects (BP, N.d.)

BP's Issues

Oil and gas reserves are becoming increasingly hard to come by. Oil companies are now targeting some of the harder to access reserves. This requires a great deal of technological sophistication and drives up extraction prices. It also creates a substantial amount of risk for the organization which has recently manifested in the Gulf of Mexico.

In April 2010 an explosion occurred and a major…

Production and Operations Management

Marketing is an important function and acts a key contributor in success of any product. A good marketing strategy can make a not so good product become a blockbuster while a bad marketing strategy can put an excellent product down the drain. Marketing is an amalgamation of various elements that lead with different aspects of getting the product to the consumer. One of the major elements of this marketing mix is the product placement. Placement involves determining where the product will be sold and how will be it be transported to that selling point in a manner that efficiently reaches the potential consumer and is profitable to the company. Over a period of time, various channels of distribution and transportation methods have evolved depending upon the nature of product and suiting the other external requirements of the region where the product is supposed to be transported.…

Business Ethics

Social Performance Of Organizations

BP PLC (famous as British Petroleum PLC) is a multinational company from Britain. The company's headquarters is located in London, England, United Kingdom. The company mainly deals in the production and distribution of oil and gas. BP PLC stands as the sixth largest company in the global oil and gas market-by-market capitalization and fifth in terms of revenue. BP PLC is vertically integrated, which in microeconomics refers to a common style of growth and management control in a variety of related industries. This is when a company expands its operation into levels that are located different points along the same production path.

From this arrangement, BP PLC owns separate companies that are engaged in the production, processing, and distribution of oil and gas and able effectively to reduce operational costs to achieve efficiency (Hotte, Sumaila, & University of British Columbia, 2013). As a global…

Exxon Valdez and Ethics

egarding the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the organizational culture of the National Park Services (NPS) influence ethical decision making in the disaster because the leaders in the NPS had a "can-do" spirit infused in them over generations of story-telling about how they were the leaders of the campaign to protect the parks and they did not want to cede control to other organizations that might have more effective strategies for helping to prevent an oil spill form spreading (Kurtz, 2003, p. 310). The problem was that the organizational culture did not reflect the reality of the situation -- the NPS was not able to properly address the situation and required help; the egoistic mentality its leaders had cultivated in the organizational prevented it from adequately preventing the oil spread.

The ethical issues involved in this situation stemmed from a lack of communication, as the Incident Command…

risks that BP faces is with respect to ethics. The company's pursuit of profits over safety on the Deepwater Horizon is perhaps the most obvious example of this risk. Ethically, safety would have been the more important concern, but BP pushed profit as a primary motive despite what it would do to worker safety. The end result, of course, cost the company over $40 billion as the result of the damage that was caused by the accident that occurred as a result of that ethical lapse (earden, 2010).

Ethics continue to be a risk at BP because the unethical practices that led to Deepwater Horizon. Instead of learning from Deepwater Horizon, BP is still believed to lack transparency with respect to its practices. As a reflection of how ingrained the company's lack of ethics is, the chair of safety, ethics and environment had 43% of shareholders vote against him in…

The 1980s (the period when onald eagan was the U.S. President) witnessed a series of government measures targeting environmental regulations. This resulted in public outrage against the anti-environmental policies of the government leading to a renewed interest in nature clubs and groups and the formation of radical groups who led strong movements to protect the environment. (vii) the post- eagan resurgence (1990s onwards) - President Bush and President Clinton did not take the radical stance of their predecessor. However, President George W. Bush has taken many measures which have weakened the environmental movement instead of strengthening it. This includes opposing curbs on greenhouse emissions via the Kyoto Protocol, supporting oil drilling in the ANW or Arctic National Wildlife ange, weakening clean air standards and lifting the ban on logging in forests.

3) How does economics determine the public's opinion regarding environmental issues? Discuss the values of the dominant social paradigm…

At the time, the industry sought to examine both oil pollution in general and ocean dumping as well as land-based sources of ocean pollution. According to ang, "More significant was the rapid technological development in the design of large-sized oil tankers which required constant rule changes. By 1973 it was evident that the 1954 convention provisions were inadequate or outdated, and by then the likelihood of the 1954 convention coming into force was rather doubtful" (334).

The new protocol ultimately entered into force in January 1978. The 1973 version of MARPOL was comprised of 20 articles concerning general obligations under the convention (e.g., prohibition of violation of requirements, rules for ship inspection, enforcement, reporting on incidents involving harmful substances, and most importantly, five technical annexes or regulations on 1) oil pollution; 2) control of noxious liquid substances in bulk; 3) harmful substances carried by sea in package forms or in…

S. pp). For more than ten years, Chinese officials have stated that production from Chinese firms investing overseas is more secure than imports purchased on the international market (U.S. pp). In order to secure more reliable access, Chinese firms are being directed to invest in projects in the Caspian region, Russia, the Middle East and South America (U.S. pp).

The National Intelligence Council's report also states that Europe's energy needs will probably not grow to the same extent as those of the developing world, partly because of Europe's expected lower economic growth and more efficient use of energy (U.S. pp). Europe's increasing preference for natural gas, combined with depleting reserves in the North Sea, will provide an added boost to political efforts that are already under way to strengthen ties with Russia and North Africa, since gas requires a higher level of political commitment by both sides in designing and…

The auditors had questioned bills generated by Saudi subcontractor Tamimi Global Company, which last July billed for 42,042 meals daily at a U.S. base outside Kuwait City, while only serving up 14,053 meals a day (unknown, 2004)."

hile the military agreed to pay the invoices in April, a "Pentagon spokesman said officials with the Defense Contract Audit Agency would continue to evaluate the costs incurred and billed by KBR, which is providing logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq (unknown, 2004)."

Overcharging for Oil

In October of 2003, Halliburton was "accused of overcharging U.S. taxpayers for gasoline it is importing into Iraq. There are reports that the company is overcharging the U.S. government between 65 and 75 cents for every gallon of gasoline it sells in Iraq (unknown, overcharging)." Halliburton, however, maintains it is innocent of these charges.

ar for Profit?

Many critics accuse President Bush of starting the war…

Selecting diverse staff members who are technically astute with a command of world languages and cultures will make NOV a company for the 21st, not simply the 20th century and ensure that the company does not become left behind in an environmentally conscious global environment.

NOV's approach to training was similarly far-thinking and far-reaching as its recruiting efforts. Eschewing specialization, it tried to create a leadership team with a thorough knowledge base of every facet of the company. The chosen new managers spent an entire year rotating different jobs, almost like a doctor has a residency in different facets of medicine, to broaden his or her area of expertise. Talent management itself is a many-layered process at NOV. The 'old boys club' of a relatively small number of homogeneous management staff had been expanded by the recruiting and training effort. The mentoring received by the candidates during their orientation year…

Environmental Hazards as a Consequence of Crude Oil/Natural Gas Exploration, Transportation, Refining and Storage

Ever since crude oil was first successfully drilled in the U.S. In Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859, the demand for oil has only been increasing over the years in countries all over the world. (Camden, 1883) Crude oil, from which various petroleum products are obtained, is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon component found trapped in rocks below the earth. The word "petroleum" means "rock oil" or "oil from the earth." Natural gas is another form of hydrocarbon that is also found in nature. oth crude oil and natural gas have excellent combustibility and are good sources of energy. Crude oil is not used in the extracted form; but it is refined to obtained products such as gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, kerosene, gas-oil and fuel oil. Secondary products during the purification of crude oil are obtained are…

The NATUNA SEA sinking incident occurred on October 3, 2000 on the rock-strewn outcrop of Batu Berhanti in Indonesia when it was headed to Jinzhou, China.  The grounding of the NATUNA SEA took place approximately 6NM from the tanker’s manager’s office (Ferguson, 2002).  This incident had devastating effects because of the oil spill into the sea, which was nearly 3 years after the EVOIKOS oil spill.  Since the occurrence of this incident, the shipping industries in Singapore and Indonesia have embarked on several initiatives to prevent future accidents and their subsequent oil spills.  These industries have also been keen in ensuring oil pollution from such incidents are avoided or mitigated.  However, there is need for more initiatives to be undertaken by the shipping industry in order to prevent and deal with such incidents in an effective manner.

Brief Description of the Ship

NATUNA SEA was a Panamanian tanker that was…