Good Things To Know About Oil And Gas Engineer Jobs

Good Things To Know About Oil And Gas Engineer Jobs by Dalvin Rumsey

People who get to work as engineers in the oil and gas production are usually very well trained professionals. There are many things an engineer can be responsible for. For instance, a drilling engineer has to make sure the drilling of wells goes well, and also provide engineering support for all stages of oil and gas extraction. This includes planning and drawing up the drilling program, monitoring safety and providing on-site support. The drilling engineer must analyze the performance of the drilling and the factors that may sometimes influence the cost and the efficiency of the process as a whole.

The reservoir engineers are the ones to estimate the amounts of oil and gas that could be taken from the rock of the reservoir. They are asked to draw up plans in order to be able to extract as much as possible, as you might have already guessed by now!

Oil and gas engineers work in offices that are usually situated onshore. There, they must spend some 40 hours each week. This is not like working offshore, where the working schedule is usually 12 hours on and 12 hours off for two weeks. The rest of the month, they are being left onshore. The salaries are quite good in this particular field. The work of an oil and gas engineer requires that the person has skills for solving any problem that might occur and work well in a team or being able to lead one. Oil and gas engineers must have a scientific approach to their work and be prepared to work away from home from time to time. These persons must also be responsible and safety-conscious. The most important thing is that they are interested in protecting natural resources and the environment while meeting the demand for oil and gas.

There are many types of employers that may be able to offer jobs in this field. Should it be an operating company or a drilling company, the jobs keep on flowing. There are many other companies that can provide jobs in the oil and gas field. Some of them are engineering consultancies and service companies, for instance the seismic exploration firms or the well service firms.

So, an oil and gas engineer must have a postgraduate qualification, and most of all, he must be rather young of age, as it is very difficult to start working in this field when you are in fact close to 50.

About the Author

HirednotFired - Oil And Gas Job Search - Free Job & Resume Posting - Engineer Recruitment and Procurement. Your one stop for Oil Jobs .

When Will The World Run Out Of Gas?

When Will the World Run Out Of Gas? By William Cate

When it takes a barrel of oil to produce a barrel of oil, our Civilization will have run out of gas. It's too simplistic to estimate the known oil reserves and divided that figure by annual oil consumption and project that in about thirty years, we'll be out of gas.

In January 1901, the Texas Spindletop Field was brought into production. Initially, this one oil field produced more oil than Russian produces yearly, now. This discovery lead to the end of the Rockefeller Oil Monopoly. It introduced a century of global oil exploration. We have probably found all the cheap oil available to us. American's oil production peaked in 1969. World oil production is expected to peak around 2015. Meanwhile, oil consumption has risen by over fourfold since 1960. It is expected to continue to rise during the next decade. When demand exceeds dwindling supplies, the result is higher prices. It doesn't necessarily mean the end of the gas-guzzler. There are folks willing to pay fifty or one hundred dollars a gallon for gas.

There are no doubt undiscovered oil fields. Odds are these fields are small, deep and far more costly to develop than those of the 20th Century. It's impossible to project how much oil we haven't found. Whatever the amount of undiscovered petroleum, we will no doubt find it in the next thirty years. That oil may add a few weeks or years to our cheap oil needs.

The popular concept of profit oriented oil companies doesn't fit with the facts. The goal of the oil companies seems to be to maximum revenues, not maximum profits. In 1953, the U.S. Postal Service postcard cost one cent. In the same year, a gallon of regular gas in the San Francisco Bay Area cost thirty-four cents a gallon. Today, a USPS postcard costs twenty-four cents. Using the same price move on regular gas, I should be paying about $8.16/gal at the pump. It's evident that gas prices are agreed upon among the oil companies. However, the goal has always been maximum consumption, not maximum profit. It's a policy that will cost us dearly in this Century.

A better measure of the cost of oil, or any energy source, is the amount of energy required to produce it. Economists, geologists and physicists call this quantity the "energy return on investment" or E.R.O.I. As the average E.R.O.I. of an economy's energy sources drops toward 1 to 1, an ever-larger fraction of the economy's wealth must go to finding and producing energy. The energy return on investment for conventional oil, which provides about 40 percent of the world's commercial energy and more than 95 percent of America's transportation energy, has been falling for decades. United States production leads this trend. America is where petroleum resources have been exploited the longest. In the United States, from the early 1970s to today the return on investment of oil and natural gas extraction has fallen from about 25 to 1 to about 15 to 1. It will continue to fall toward 1 to 1 over the next three decades.

Without a doubt, mankind can find ways to push back these constraints on the global energy supply. But we probably can't push them back indefinitely, because our species' capacity to innovate, and to deliver the fruits of that innovation when and where they're needed, isn't infinite and our resources are finite. We will lose the energy race in this Century.

America is the Saudi Arabia of coal. Unfortunately, burning coal currently creates more pollution than using oil. We have built dams everywhere they should have been built and many places where they should never have been built. More dams in unworkable locations won't solve our oil problems. There is nuclear energy, but what do you do with all that radioactive waste? It's a question that Dr. Edward Teller and all those who have followed him haven't answer. At present, solar power is uneconomic. There should be a Manhattan Project to make solar costs and efficiency competitive with the current price of oil. There are only so many windy hills and thus wind-powered energy production is limited. None of these alternatives will meet the world's growing need for cheap oil.

We live in a finite world. Our capacity to consume nonrenewable resources appears to be infinite. The two paths will cross in this Century. The finite world path will be the only one that continues into the 22nd Century.

About the Author

He is the Managing Director of Beowulf Investments [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/]. He's the Executive Director of the Global Village Investment Club [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/] He's a Venture Capital & Equity Finance Consultant [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/williamcateventurecapitalampequityfinanceconsultant/]

How Much Natural Gas is Left?

Although oil gets the media attention, natural gas also plays a major role in the energy needs of the world. So, how much natural gas is left in the world? The answer may surprise you.

How Much Natural Gas is Left?

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is non-renewable. Although called "natural gas", it could also be called methane for all intents and purposes since methane comprises the vast majority of the gas. Natural gas is found in oil fields, coal minds and its own unique locations.

Natural gas is more of a direct use energy in our daily lives. By direct use, I am referring to actually seeing it. You see it in action when you turn on your gas stove. You also see it when you spend 20 minutes burning your fingers while trying to light the pilot light on a heater. Beside residential use, natural gas is also used by industries for a wide variety of manufacturing applications. A less known use is as an ingredient in the production of ammonia.

Interestingly, and perhaps unfortunately, the countries with major natural gas resources are mostly those that also have significant oil reserves. Iran and Russia have some of the largest fields, as do many other Mideast countries. Fortunately, natural gas is also found in oil-deficient countries such as Australia, Argentina and Mexico.

So, how much natural gas do we currently have to fill our energy needs? The most current estimates put the reserves at roughly six thousand trillion cubic feet. My, that certain sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Given our current rate of use, however, it equate to between 60 and 65 years worth of supply.

As with oil, there are two issues that can throw the estimate of the number of years completely off. The issues are economic growth and further reserves.

The first is the emerging economies of China and India to mention to of the bigger ones. The economies of these countries are expanding like crazy and natural gas is one of the energy sources they live off of. In the next 10 to 20 years, the amount of natural gas needed by these countries should multiply, putting strain on the supply.

The second issue is more positive. Simply put, we should find more natural gas fields in future years. The prospects for finding more are, in fact, much better than those for oil. The reason has to do with transportation. Simply put, oil is easy to transport while natural gas is not. Recent innovations have solved many of the transportation issues, so exploration efforts are picking up.

Natural gas plays a fundamental role in the overall energy supplies of most economies, particularly first world ones. While natural gas supplies seem strong for the foreseeable future, it is important to understand it is not a renewable resource, to wit, it will run out one day.

About the Author

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com - a directory of solar companies.

Killer Coalbed Methane Gas Powers Chinese Taxis

Successful investors can predict where the market is going years before the rest of us. Like the clichés of selling ice to Eskimos (or the British version of selling coal to Newcastle), Richmond, Virginia-based Coal Baron E. Morgan Massey was five years ahead of the markets when he raised $75 million to develop coal mines in China's Shanxi province in 2001.

As early as 1994, the seventies-something founder and chairman of A.T. Massey Coal, which has since evolved into Massey Energy (MEE), began planning to bring American-invented Longwall mining technology to China's coal mines in Shanxi province. With his Chinese partners, Massey and Asian American Coal control about two billion tons of coal reserves.

It is Massey's spin off coalbed methane (CBM) company Asian American Gas, which caught our eye. According to Shanxi News, the CBM output of a pilot well set a new national record, continuously producing 40,000 SCM per day (standard cubic meters). The new technology which created the new national record is something called "Multi-Lateral Drilling (MLD)."

Asian American Gas Chief Executive Zou Xiang Dong claimed the MLD technology helped the methane gas output for his wells on his company's Panzhuang CBM block in Shanxi province jump by more than 40 times that of conventional vertical wells. Obviously the company is excited as four other MLD wells installed in the latter half of 2006. The company believes those wells might also have the potential to match the record production.The previous daily output record stood at 16,000 cubic meters.

China Celebrates Coalbed Methane

An inside look at China's rapidly blossoming CBM industry is nothing if not electrifying. The world's energy entrepreneurs have been rushing to China to take up the country's state-owned methane gas company - China United Coalbed Methane Co (CUCBM) - on production-sharing contracts offered to foreign energy companies. Since its inception, CUCBM has signed 27 production-sharing contracts with CBM developers from the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia.

The largest publicly traded company, and among the first to participate, was Chevron Corp (CVX). But smaller firms have also joined in the hunt to develop China's vast natural gas reserves. Far East Energy (FEEC) and Pacific Asia China Energy (PCEEF), have been awarded massive land concessions - on the order of the size of the state of Delaware. Many of these are home to rich coalbed methane reserves with thick, multi-level coal beds with high methane content. For example, U.S.-based Orion Energy was awarded a production-sharing contract on more than 460 square kilometers in the Sanjiao region of coal-rich Shanxi province. Volume is estimated at 60 billion cubic meters.

Typically, the foreign company assumes all the operational risk to verify the quantity of coalbed methane gas. Costs from exploration through to commercial production are borne by the foreign company. Pacific Asia China Energy vice president of exploration Dr. Marchioni told us that the positive side of this arrangement is that CUCBM would provide all of the coal exploration work, which he called quite satisfactory, and that his company's main work was to confirm the Chinese coal exploration. In a previous article we discovered that the gas content both Far East Energy and Pacific Asia China Energy confirmed, during their drilling programs, compared well against the top coalbed methane producing regions in the U.S. and Canada.

The Chinese are not giving away their CBM reserves without taxation. The Chinese-foreign joint ventures are subject to five-percent value-added tax when they begin to exploit the coalbed methane gas. However, for the first two years such joint ventures show a profit, the companies will be exempt from the business income tax. For the third through fifth year, the tax rate will be cut by half. In order to encourage new technology, such as the Multi-Lateral Drilling Technology or Mitchell Drilling Services' Dymaxion® drill rigs, the imported materials used for prospecting and development work are exempt from customs duties and the import regulation tax.

According to Yang Jian, an executive at China United Coalbed Methane, "The state encourages the development of this new energy, and there's no restriction on foreign companies entering this field. With the good prospects, the expanded production of coalbed methane can be expected to happen soon." Foreign companies have spent about $160 million exploring the concessions they were awarded. Yang pointed out that large Chinese companies, such as China National Petroleum Corp, were now entering CBM exploration. Shanxi province's Eleventh 5-Year Plan is forecast to exceed $15 billion for CBM exploration, development and utilization.

China's Killer Coal Gas Fuels Taxi Cabs

Holding the world's record for coal mining deaths annually, the Chinese have looked upon coal gas as a dangerous nuisance. During coal mining, methane gas can cause explosions resulting in death and injury to the miners. China United Coalbed Methane Corp general manager Sun Maoyuan pointed out, "About 80 percent of casualties are attributed to these gas explosions, causing direct losses of $93 million each year."

By extracting the gas - simply de-gasifying the coal mine before producing from it, deaths can be avoided and China can help power its economy with a 'new' energy source. One Chinese newspaper beat the drum for coal gas, writing, "As a 'green' energy source of good quality and high efficiency, coalbed methane has a promising future."

Fuxin City in China's Liaoning province is China's first city to replace coal-made-gas with CBM. Coalbed methane now supplies more than 80,000 households and 1,000 taxis. Twenty-three year-old taxi driver Li Gang is happy about using compressed coal-bed methane in his cab. "I can save on half of my expenses for fuel each day," he told Xinhua news service. One cubic meter of compressed CBM is the equivalent of 1.13 liters of gasoline, but retails for less than one-half the price of gasoline.

Starting in January, Jincheng City refitted about 90 percent of the city's 1300 taxis to use both compressed CBM and gasoline. At China's largest CBM exploitation base, Quinshui Basin, wells are operating at full capacity to help fuel factories, households and most importantly the city's growing dependency on automobiles.

China hosts more than 30 trillion cubic meters of CBM reserves, according to the China Coal Information Research Institute, and ranks behind Russia and Canada for the world's largest reserves. This much CBM is tantamount of 45 billion tons of standard coal. Some sixty percent of the methane gas is stored in coal beds below 1500 meters, which can easily be developed.

In 2004, China's coal mines polluted the atmosphere by pumping out 14 billion cubic meters of coal gas. By accelerating coal mine development in China, the emissions problem will worsen. Some experts estimate more than 17 billion cubic meters will be released by 2020. Because of the global shortage of energy sources, the Chinese are now turning to CBM as a reliable substitute for conventional natural gas.

Following the extraordinary publicity about deaths from methane gas explosions in China's coal mines, China's State Council, introduced measures in 2005, to harness gas by developing CBM projects and de-gasifying mines. To intensify CBM exploitation, the State Council issued a 16-clause guideline, this past June, offering a number of preferential policies on land use and access of methane-generated electricity to local power grids. Because of the urgency to get CBM in broader use, two months later, the National Development and Reform Commission began measures to put the guidelines into practice.

New CBM Drilling Technologies Move China Forward

In the mid 1990s, China began exploring some of its vast CBM reserves. Inadequate investment and technology led to the formation of CUCBM. The state-owned CBM company began attracting foreign partners to invest in developing China's CBM reserves and to bring with them new drilling technologies.

In 2005, China consumed 1 billion cubic meters of coalbed methane gas and was expected to use 1.4 billion cubic meters this past year. To date, more than 600 CBM wells have been sunk across China. Most remain in the exploration and pilot stages. New technologies brought to China through joint ventures with CUCBM could help accelerate development and dramatically increase the number of CBM wells

As we mentioned earlier, new CBM drilling technologies have arrived in China to advance many CBM projects more efficiently into production. With an eye to reduce cost and maximize efficiency, drilling technologies from the U.S. and Australia are being brought to China to expedite the emerging CBM sector.

Multi-Lateral Drilling Technology (MLT) offers solutions to tough economic climates and rough operating conditions. MLT has been used to recover 'heavy oil' deposits, such as those found in Canada or Venezuela. This technology has also found its way to the hostile North Sea to increase recoverable reserves from those oil fields.

Partly to reduce well construction costs, another advantage is to add incremental reserves and production rates to a project. Uneconomic projects could suddenly be made to work. When we spoke to Nathan Mitchell of Mitchell Drilling (Brisbane, Australia), he told us many previously sub-economic projects could become profitable by using his Dymaxion® drilling technology. Mitchell told us CBM extraction could drop to as low as $1.10/mcf, whereas others were struggling to extract for more than three or four times the cost.

Mitchell was quite excited to import his drilling technology to China through the company's joint venture with Pacific Asia China Energy. The joint venture would have an exclusive to utilize the Dymaxion® technology in China for all CBM drilling and coal mine de-gasification projects. At a coal symposium in Guizhou province this past spring, Mitchell spoke of the numerous coal companies which expressed a high level of interest in his company's drilling technology. From what we understand, the first such drill rig should shortly arrive in China.

Most MLT has been used for oil exploration projects. Noted, however, is that MTL may significantly impact reservoir spacing in deep, tight gas wells by helping to achieve optimal drainage spacing, which is impeded when drilling to deep reservoirs. By contrast, Mitchell has drilled more than 250 CBM wells in Australia and had moved forward with CBM drilling in India. This is the company's first entry to China, where rugged terrain could test the efficiency of his system.

CBM Timing Coincident with China's Red Hot Stock Market

China's Shanghai stock exchange is now among the world's best performing bourses. The Shanghai Composite Index now approaches 3,000, having hit a record high last week. Millions of Chinese have exited the frothy real estate market to trade stocks - more than triple the number of investment accounts were opened last year compared to 2005.

In July, commodities guru and best-selling author Jim Rogers told StockInterview he had cashed out of every other emerging market in the world and had invested heavily in China. China's financial markets collapsed two years ago and have now returned with a vengeance. Remember 1999? That's China today. According to the New York Times, one mutual fund raised $5 billion in a single day and some mutual fund managers are annually making more than $600,000 - in China!

What's that have to do with CBM? At some point, and we have already heard of interest of such, Chinese investors could very well flock into the CBM companies we've written about. There is an irrational exuberance vibrating across China's financial markets. But, this is also a country now attracting foreign investment. Asian Development Bank has injected $117 million into CBM development projects, Japanese banks have invested $20 million and National Investment Company of China has announced it would invest more than $300 million over the next seven years.

As more foreign capital comes to China for CBM projects, a scarcity of the best CBM projects could come about. As we have noted in previous articles, China's race for energy security has become a global challenge for its economic growth. We expect many of the local industries and prefecture level cities could plan to deal directly with the Chinese-foreign joint ventures in securing their own gas supplies by direct investment in the foreign-owned companies. By partnering with the foreign-owned, publicly traded companies, their communities would ensure a reliable energy source.

Nearly half of China's coal mines are rich in gas, but CBM remains undeveloped and still in its infancy in the world's largest coal market. Last May, China's National Development and Reform Commission approved a five-year plan to exploit coalbed methane. They plan to dramatically boost CBM output to 10 billion cubic meters by 2010.

In the back of our minds, we wonder what would happen should the aggressive Chinese investment community rush into CBM in the same way many North Americans and Australians have embraced the shares of uranium mining companies.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

About the Author

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. His focus on the uranium mining and nuclear fuel sector resulted in the widely popular "Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market," which is now available on http://www.stockinterview.com and on http://www.amazon.com

Online pipeline maps - details about the exploration gas sector

The natural gas industry has gone through a lot of changes in the last couple of years. Various techniques were discovered, particularly in the exploration gas field. The online presence of specialized companies proved out to be very helpful and the industry grew really powerful.

Individual pipeline companies started to use the Internet in order to offer a better view of the industry. Pipeline maps were created for them and many specialists in the field considered them as one of the best invention ever.

The exploration gas field can be very well linked with the transportation of this precious resource. Exploration, extraction, storage and transportation are vital steps in the natural gas industry and all of them require advanced techniques. As gas can be found in oil or natural gas fields, including coal it is mandatory for the exploration gas procedures to be thorough and extensive.

Experts in the field work very close together in order to obtain the most benefits from the natural gas resources. After the natural gas undergoes various stages of exploration and extraction, it needs to be transported along the pipelines. Many people are interested in discovering the whole network of interstate pipeline and understanding the diverse elements presented, including the ones about the exploration gas sector.

Mapping has been considered a very interesting technique, especially by the people working in the oil and gas industry. They need pipeline maps and the information presented on them in order to be able to do their job as best as they can. For them, mapping services, with data gathering and analysis are vital in helping them take important decisions. Technical drawings of pipeline maps are made by applying graphic design and other procedures, including cartographic principles.

The system for representing important details of the pipeline network has been welcomed by a lot of experts in the field. Nowadays, the Internet is the first place people think of to find the information needed and this thing is valid for pipeline maps also. Pipelines are finely represented along with their characteristics, meaning diameter, capacity and owners. These elements are crucial to the success of any project in the business and they must be well-known.

Pipeline maps are made with the aid of geodatabases and they are presented online by reliable websites. These people are trying to meet the demands of the industry and they use diverse techniques in order to create such maps. They offer significant information linked with this industry, meaning pipeline routes, data about gas production and storage.

A wide range of data is analyzed so as to make this pipeline maps as accurate as possible. Along with the info presented above, come details about mainline throughputs, operators and horsepower. The maps are designed only by specialists, being easy to comprehend and put in use.

The natural gas sector is a big part of the United States industry. There are many esteemed companies out there, meeting the demands of the industry and using the Internet to such purposes. Pipeline maps are created for these companies, offering the needed information and presenting the natural gas system in an appealing manner.

Rockies Express Pipeline is one of the top companies in the market. They have a well-designed natural gas system, stretching from Colorado to Ohio. They have three segments of pipeline: Entrega, West and East. They fulfill the nation's requirements for natural gas and thus for energy. Rockies Express Pipeline maps include pipeline capacity, compressor facilities and lateral pipelines (to and from the mainline).

These pipeline maps for companies such as Rockies Express Pipeline include also extra mechanical devices, made especially for compression and also the natural gas deposits. An exact representation of important elements is required in this industry and there are many companies, including Rockies Express Pipeline, who desire to gain from them.
About the Author

Pipeline maps are indeed useful for specialists in the gas industry, mainly the ones of the exploration gas sector. They are made using unique skills and they present up-to-date information about powerful companies, such as Rockies Express pipeline.



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The petroleum industry: fuel oil, gas oil, transportation and mapping solutions

As modern society consumes larger amounts of fuel every day, the energy industry has become a very important part of the development and infrastructure of every country, and so has the petroleum industry, which includes oil companies, refiners and so on. Fuel oil is essential to land, sea and air transportation or heating and nowadays it is required in greater quantities than ever.

A commonly used type of fuel oil is gas oil, generally used for industrial heating, off-road diesel vehicles and for some cars and ships. Diesel gas oil can also be used to produce small amounts of electricity, but it's really polluting and expensive. In Europe, diesel gas oil is most commonly used to fuel about 40% of the cars, 90% of the SUVs and most of the trucks. Many people prefer diesel gas oil-powered cars because they have lower fuel consumption and produce only about 69% of the polluting gasses. On the other hand, burning diesel gas oil produces greater quantities of sulfur than gasoline.

The transportation of oil plays an essential part in the logistics and economy of the oil companies, as well as in the effectiveness of the use of oil. Pipeline transport provides the most economical method to transport great amounts of gas and it was pioneered in the late 19th century by a company in Azerbaijan. The pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes with diameters ranging from 30 centimeters to 1.20 meters and they're usually built over land. Given the fact that building pipeline systems under the sea is very expensive and demanding, most of the oil at sea is transported with the help of special ships, called "tanker ships".

The mechanism is simple: the oil is pumped through the pipes by a system of pump stations built along de pipeline. The oil usually flows through the pipes at a speed ranging between 1 and 6 meters per second.

Let's take for example the Williams' Company Transco pipeline system, which has been functioning for over 50 years now. The Transco pipeline moves natural gas through its approximately 11.000 mile system, stretching across the United States from South Texas to New York City and is a great provider to the northeastern and southeastern states. Transco pipeline delivers natural gas from the Gulf Coast to areas like New York and New Jersey.

The Transco pipeline has a system design capacity of 7.8 billion cubic feet per day and a seasonal storage of 203.4 billion cubic feet. It supplies the Gulf Coast and it has market areas such as the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states. Also, the Transco pipeline system has about 11.000 miles of pipeline with 43 compressor stations built along the way to keep the gas moving. One must admit that the numbers are quite impressive!

Along with the great amounts of oil to be transported and the thousands of miles long pipeline systems came the need to preserve the accuracy of the drilling and exploration as well as the transportation of oil. And so came to life specialized companies to do that.

Rextag Strategies is one of the leaders in this field of expertise. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), mapping and cartographic capabilities and high quality graphic design, the company provides all that is needed for the effectiveness and success of all projects. The company has a competitive advantage compared to others in the same field of expertise, providing very useful information that cannot be found anywhere else. Recently, Rextag Strategies has released the "Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Map Book", the first of its kind, offering valuable information about the top 40 US natural gas pipeline systems.

The energy and petroleum industries have both reached high levels of performance and efficiency during the last two decades and many companies have developed methods of exploiting and making good use of the planet's resources. Still, there is a constant threat to the environment that each and every company should consider, no matter the financial damage to their budget.

About the Author

By visiting our website you will not only be able to find out everything there is to know about gas oil, fuel oil or the Transco pipeline system, but you will also be able to purchase The Interstate Natural Pipelines Map Book - a complete, updated, professional and very valuable resource you will most lik

Oil and Gas Rig Expansion Creates Exciting Employment Opportunities b

Oil and Gas Rig Expansion Creates Exciting Employment Opportunities

Copyright 2007 by Harry S Richards

Work offshore for just half a year and get paid for the whole year? Sounds too good to be true, but that's on offer now in offshore locations worldwide.

The problem for new entrants to the industry is that these jobs are rarely advertised. You'll be hard-pushed to find them listed on Oil Company websites or in search engines. Why? Because now the growth is so fast that they are now recruiting by use of "The Walk-in Interview". It saves time and keeps rigs fully manned.

Walk-In Interviews: Don't get caught out by recruitment agency offers of "Guaranteed Work on Oil Rigs" that's nonsense because those agents will never know where the next "Walk-in Interview" is going to take place. It's almost like "speed dating" except that you only get one chance to bring along your passport and a copy of a recent payslip.

There is only one publication that I have seen that lists most of the current venues where you can simply "Walk-in" and get yourself an Oil Rig Job. [ see: http://www.offshore-jobs.co.uk ]. Even entry-level jobs are available, but you should have some similar shore-based skill or experience that can be adapted.

The Opportunities: Opportunities to work offshore worldwide have never been greater. The demand for new crews is almost at a peak. The major players in Gas and Oil exploration such as Shell, Aramco and UMW in South East Asia, and even China, have recently launched their expansion plans to drive earnings growth in 2007-2008 and beyond.

The Unseen Opportunity: For the Oil Rig worker, the unseen opportunity is the time off. Where else can you go to work and get two weeks out of the month off? The time off presents a truly wonderful opportunity.

Free Living and all found: Rig workers get four hot meals a day, all you care to eat. Seafood and steaks are on the menu often. Snacks, cold drinks, and fruit juices are provided 24 hours a day. Between working hours there are plenty of satellite programs and videos to watch, served with snacks and cold drinks.

The bigger companies, such as Esso and Shell go out of their way to provide all the comforts of home. Some even have Gym rooms and Saunas. Another perk is that you can call home anytime you like via satellite phones.

New Entrants: For the new entrant, previous offshore experience is not a requirement, but it helps. All applicants are considered on an individual basis, and once you get some basic offshore experience, you have the key which will open many doors for you. It's getting that initial bit of experience which sometimes presents the biggest problem. The website mentioned earlier includes several tips to show you how to get your first bit of experience.

Military Service If you have prior military service or you still are in the military, you will be able to use your military training to your own advantage. The military offers a great deal of excellent training, and some of it is transferable to the offshore industry.

For example, if you are a mechanic in the military, you will probably have diesel and hydraulic experience. Many things offshore operate hydraulically, pneumatically, and are diesel powered. If you worked on jet aircraft or helicopters, then you have some excellent experience to offer. Turbine engines are becoming more common all the time as power plants offshore.

About the Author

Harry S Richards is currently based in South East Asia and reports on many worthwhile careers in which he has personal knowledge or experience both at home and overseas. He runs several websites including http://www.themartuk.com and http://www.beauforts.com . His motto is "If you must have a career why not choose an Action Career". Such as you may find at http://www.offshore-jobs.co.uk . This article may be reprinted as long

Oil Rigs and Offshore Gas Exploration Careers

Copyright 2007 by Harry S Richards

The Opportunities:-

Opportunities to work offshore worldwide have never been greater. The demand for new crews is almost at a peak. The major players in Gas and Oil exploration in Europe, the USA, South East Asia, and even China, have recently launched their expansion plans to drive earnings growth in 2007-2008 and beyond.

Rig Crews get Two Weeks off every Month:-

Work offshore for just half a year and get paid for the whole year? Sounds too good to be true, but that's on offer now in offshore locations worldwide. The problem for new entrants to the industry is that these jobs are rarely advertised. You'll be hard-pushed to find them listed on Oil Company websites or in search engines. Why? Because now the growth is so fast that employers recruit crews via the "Walk-in Interview". It saves time and keeps rigs fully manned.

Walk-In Interviews:-

Most offshore job-seekers may never know where the next "Walk-in Interview" is going to take place. It's almost like "speed dating" except that you only get one chance to bring along your passport and a copy of a recent payslip. There is only one publication that I have seen that lists most of the current venues where you can simply "Walk-in" and get yourself an Oil Rig Job. Take a look at www.offshore-jobs.co.uk . Even entry-level jobs are available, but you should have some similar shore-based skill or experience that can be adapted.

Free Living:-

Rig workers get four hot meals a day, all you care to eat. Seafood and steaks are on the menu often. Snacks, cold drinks, and fruit juices are provided 24 hours a day. Between working hours there are plenty of satellite programs and videos to watch, served with snacks and cold drinks. The bigger companies, such as Esso and Shell go out of their way to provide all the comforts of home. Some even have Gym rooms and Saunas. Another perk is that you can call home anytime you like via satellite phones.

New Entrants:-

For the new entrant, previous offshore experience is not a requirement, but it helps. All applicants are considered on an individual basis, and once you get some basic offshore experience, you have the key which will open many doors for you. It's getting that initial bit of experience which sometimes presents the biggest problem. The website mentioned earlier includes several tips to show you how to get your first bit of experience.

Military Service:-

If you have prior military service or you still are in the military, you will be able to use your military training to your own advantage. The military offers a great deal of excellent training, and some of it is transferable to the offshore industry.

For example, if you are a mechanic in the military, you will probably have diesel and hydraulic experience. Many things offshore operate hydraulically, pneumatically, and are diesel powered. If you worked on jet aircraft or helicopters, then you have some excellent experience to offer. Turbine engines are becoming more common all the time as power plants offshore.

Know How to Meet the Hurdles:-

The opportunities for a worthwhile career in the offshore Oil and Gas industry could be waiting for you - if you have the motivation to follow those who already know how to meet the hurdles. Now you can get all that valuable knowledge in a single downloadable volume from www.offshore-jobs.co.uk

For the Oil Rig worker, the greatest benefit is the time off. Where else can you go to work and get two weeks off every month? The time off presents a truly wonderful opportunity. Could this be the career for you?

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About the Author

Harry S Richards reports on many worthwhile careers in which he has personal knowledge or experience both at home and overseas. He runs several websites including http://www.offshore-jobs.co.uk and http://www.themartuk.com . His motto is "If you must have a career why not choose an Action Career". This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

Untapped: The Scramble For Africa's Oil

The following is an excerpt from the book Untapped by John Ghazvinian Published by Harcourt, Inc.; April 2007;$25.00US; 978-0-15-101138-4 Copyright © 2007 John Ghazvinian

Since 1990 alone, the petroleum industry has invested more than $20 billion in exploration and production activity in Africa . A further $50 billion will be spent between now and the end of the decade, the largest investment in the continent's history -- and around one-third of it will come from the United States . Three of the world's largest oil companies -- the British-Dutch consortium Shell, France's Total, and America's Chevron -- are spending 15 percent, 30 percent, and 35 percent respectively of their global exploration and production budgets in Africa. Chevron alone is in the process of rolling out $20 billion in African projects over a five-year period.

The overwhelming majority of this new drilling activity has taken place in the so-called "deep water" and the "ultradeep" of the Gulf of Guinea , the roughly 90-degree bend along the west coast of Africa that can best be visualized as the continent's "armpit." Its littoral zone passes through the territorial waters of a dozen countries, from Ivory Coast in the northwest down to Angola in the south, and a good deal of its geology shares the characteristics that have made Nigeria a prolific producer for decades. Indeed, a number of unexpectedly productive fields have been discovered in the Gulf over the past decade. But although the Gulf of Guinea has lately been sub-Saharan Africa 's most exciting region for the oil industry, it is hardly the only "prospective" part of the continent (to borrow the industry term). The parched semideserts of southern Chad and southern Sudan have recently added hundreds of thousands of barrels a day to global markets, and a growing chorus of voices is now touting the East African margin as the industry's "next big thing."

But be it east or west, jungle or desert, it is a safe bet that where the drillers go, the politicians, strategists, and lobbyists are not far behind. Washington in particular has taken a keen interest in Africa 's growing significance as an oil-producing region since the headline discoveries of the late 1990s. In December 2000 the National Intelligence Council, an internal CIA think tank, published a report in which it declared unambiguously that sub-Saharan Africa "will play an increasing role in global energy markets," and predicted that the region would provide 25 percent of North American oil imports by 2015, up from the 15 percent or so at the time. (This would put Africa well ahead of Saudi Arabia as a source of oil for the United States .) In May 2001 a controversial and fairly secretive energy task force put together by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney declared in its report: " West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market."

In the following months, a group of congressmen, lobbyists, and defense strategists came together under the umbrella of the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, and began preaching the message that the Gulf of Guinea was the new Persian Gulf, and that it should become a strategic priority for the United States, even to the point of requiring an expanded military presence. A series of well-placed articles in the American media followed, some breathlessly announcing the inauguration of a new Middle East off the shores of Africa . Before long, the influential Center for Strategic and International Studies had chimed in with a couple of reports, its most recent, in July 2005, claiming that "an exceptional mix of U.S. interests is at play in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea ."

During these years, a number of prominent lawmakers in Washington began getting excited about the possibility of shifting some of America 's oil dependence from the Middle East to Africa . One former senior official charged with African affairs recalls Kansas Senator Sam Brownback rushing up to him one afternoon in October 2002, positively glowing with excitement. "What do you think about bases in Africa ?" Brownback asked. "Wouldn't that be great?"

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But does Africa measure up to the hype? After all, the entire continent is believed to contain, at best, 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, making it a minnow swimming in an ocean of seasoned sharks. Africa is unlikely ever to "replace" the Middle East or any other major oil-producing region. So why the song and dance? Why all the goose bumps? Why do so many influential people in Washington let themselves get so carried away when they talk about African oil?

The answer has very little to do with geology. Africa 's significance as an oil "play," to borrow the industry lingo, lies beyond the number of barrels that may or may not be buried under its cretaceous rock. Instead, what makes the African oil boom interesting to energy security strategists in both Washington and Europe (and, increasingly, Beijing ) is a series of serendipitous and unrelated factors that, together, tell a story of unfolding opportunity.

To begin with, one of the more attractive attributes of Africa 's oil boom is the quality of the oil itself. The variety of crude found in the Gulf of Guinea is known in industry parlance as "light" and "sweet," meaning it is viscous and low in sulfur, and therefore easier and cheaper to refine than, say, Middle Eastern crude, which tends to be lacking in lower hydrocarbons and is therefore very "sticky." This is particularly appealing to American and European refineries, which have to contend with strict environmental regulations that make it difficult to refine heavier and sourer varieties of crude without running up costs that make the entire proposition worthless.

Then there is the geographic accident of Africa 's being almost entirely surrounded by water, which significantly cuts transport-related costs and risks. The Gulf of Guinea , in particular, is well positioned to allow speedy transport to the major trading ports of Europe and North America . Existing sea-lanes can be used for quick, cheap delivery, so there is no need to worry about the Suez Canal , for instance, or to build expensive pipelines through unpredictable countries. This may seem a minor point, until you look at Central Asia, where the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, stretching from Azerbaijan through Georgia and into Turkey , and intended to deliver Caspian crude into the Mediterranean, had to navigate a minefield of Middle East politics, antiglobalization protests, and red tape before it could be opened. African oil faces none of those issues. It is simply loaded onto a tanker at the point of production and begins its smooth, unmolested journey on the high seas, arriving just days later in Shreveport , Southampton, or Le Havre .

A third advantage, from the perspective of the oil companies, is that Africa offers a tremendously favorable contractual environment. Unlike in, say, Saudi Arabia, where the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has a monopoly on the exploration, production, and distribution of the country's crude oil, most sub-Saharan African countries operate on the basis of so-called production-sharing agreements, or PSAs. In these arrangements, a foreign oil company is awarded a license to look for petroleum on the condition that it assume the up-front costs of exploration and production. If oil is discovered in that block, the oil company will share the revenues with the host government, but only after its initial costs have been recouped. PSAs are generally offered to impoverished countries that would never be able to amass either the technical expertise or the billions in capital investment required to drill for oil themselves. For the oil company, a relatively small up-front investment can quickly turn into untold billions in profits.

Yet another strategic benefit, particularly from the perspective of American politicians, is that, until recently, with the exception of Nigeria , none of the oil-producing countries of sub-Saharan Africa had belonged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Thus they have not been subject to the strict limits on output OPEC imposes on its members in an attempt to keep the price of oil artificially high. The more non-OPEC oil that comes onto the global market, the more difficult it becomes for OPEC countries to sell their crude at high prices, and the lower the overall price of oil. Put more simply, if new reserves are discovered in Venezuela , they have very little effect on the price of oil because Venezuela 's OPEC commitments will not allow it to increase its output very much. But if new reserves are discovered in Gabon , it means more cheap oil for everybody.

But probably the most attractive of all the attributes of Africa's oil boom, for Western governments and oil companies alike, is that virtually all the big discoveries of recent years have been made offshore, in deepwater reserves that are often many miles from populated land. This means that even if a civil war or violent insurrection breaks out onshore (always a concern in Africa ), the oil companies can continue to pump out oil with little likelihood of sabotage, banditry, or nationalist fervor getting in the way. Given the hundreds of thousands of barrels of Nigerian crude that are lost every year as a result of fighting, community protests, and organized crime, this is something the industry gets rather excited about.

Finally, there is the sheer speed of growth in African oil production, and the fact that Africa is one of the world's last underexplored regions. In a world used to hearing that there are no more big oil discoveries out there, and few truly untapped reserves to look forward to, the ferocious pace and scale of Africa 's oil boom has proved a bracing tonic. One-third of the world's new oil discoveries since the year 2000 have taken place in Africa . Of the 8 billion barrels of new oil reserves discovered in 2001, 7 billion were found there. In the years between 2005 and 2010, 20 percent of the world's new production capacity is expected to come from Africa . And there is now an almost contagious feeling in the oil industry that no one really knows just how much oil might be there, since no one's ever really bothered to check.

All these factors add up to a convincing value proposition: African oil is cheaper, safer, and more accessible than its competitors, and there seems to be more of it every day. And, though Africa may not be able to compete with the Persian Gulf at the level of proven reserves, it has just enough up its sleeve to make it a potential "swing" region -- an oil province that can kick in just enough production to keep markets calm when supplies elsewhere in the world are unpredictable. Diversification of the oil supply has been a goal -- even an obsession -- in the United States since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. Successive U.S. administrations have understood that if the world is overly reliant on two or three hot spots for its energy security, there is a greater risk of supply disruptions and price volatility. And for obvious reasons, the effort to distribute America 's energy-security portfolio across multiple nodes has taken on a new urgency since September 11, 2001. In his State of the Union address in January 2006, President Bush said he wanted to reduce America 's dependence on Middle East crude by 75 percent by 2025.

Copyright © 2007 John Ghazvinian

About the Author

John Ghazvinian has a doctorate in history from Oxford. He has written for Newsweek, the Nation, Time Out New York, and other publications. Born in Iran and raised in London and Los Angeles, he currently lives in Philadelphia, where he is a visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

Opportunities In The Gas Industry

Oil is a natural fuel that is formed from buried, decayed plants and animals, under extreme heat and pressure over a time span of millions of years. Similarly, natural gas is the result of these deposits and sometimes even gets mixed with the oil. The primary function of an oil and gas extraction company is to locate, extract and refine these natural resources. Big oil companies carry out large-scale extractions, while private contractors support the mining sub-sector.

A job in the gas industry is very rewarding. You simply need to identify the sphere of work that interests you the most. The gas industry has a number of job opportunities. Depending on the qualifications and placements available, companies hire employees for diverse onshore and offshore operations.

The jobs available in the oil and natural gas industry is divided into three categories:

-Upstream- Operations in oil production come under this category. The requirement is for contractors who specialize in seismic testing, engineering, service rig operations, drilling and identifying the manufacturers of the special equipment and supply.

-Midstream- This involves the refining and transportation of oil after drilling and extraction. Besides this, making and managing of oil pipelines helps the pipeline operators earn billions of dollars.

-Downstream- This involves effective sale and wholesale operations carried out by gas distributors.

The big companies are involved in all the three spheres. This means that they extract, purify, transport and sell oil and natural gas. Small-scale companies focus on any one particular area - it could be either drilling or the laying of pipelines.

Upstream sector jobs are the most sought-after, since jobs are often international and involve extensive travel. Personnel are employed in Alaska, the Arctic, Canada and Iraq and the Middle East. Once you gain the required experience and skill, you can find a position with any large company and enjoy traveling to different places.

You need not limit your job hunt to oil and gas companies only. Multinational and big companies very often outsource work to oil service companies that lease and install facilities or equipment. Service companies send their employees to the operations bases of the companies, whenever and wherever needed.

Entry-level positions in the oil and natural gas industry are mostly in the production, purifying and transportation divisions. Jobs such as oil engineering and exploration require hands-on experience and training.

Some Of The Jobs Available:

Petroleum Geologist: Required to analyze and interpret gathered information. This position usually heads the exploration operations. Another job in this stream is that of a paleontologist, who studies fossil remains.

Rotary Drillers: They supervise the operations of the machinery and control the drilling speed and pressure.

Pump operators: They maintain the pump motors and other similar surface equipment that is used to extract oil from wells. The production supervisors and engineering team supervises their work.

In addition to the positions mentioned, there are openings for electricians, welders, laborers and instrument repairers. In the non-automated plants, maintenance personnel and operators are often needed.

About the Author

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Gas pipelines and the natural gas industry

Gas pipelines are essentially an elaborate and highly complex network of pipelines that transport natural gas and crude oil from the gathering system or well-head to the refinery. These pipelines are constructed from plastic or steel tubes that have a 30 cm-120 cm inner diameter. These gas pipelines run above ground wherever possible but are buried underground in potentially dangerous, more developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Natural gas travels through the pipelines at great pressure, which is maintained by a system of pump stations. These Oil and gas pipelines are the most economical transportation method for enormous quantities of natural gas or oil over land. However transportation of oil and gas at sea is done by tanker ships as the process of building oil and gas pipelines under the sea is technically as well as economically demanding. Natural gas transmission

Natural gas is supplied by gas pipeline companies to more than 175 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across the United States using an estimated 1.4 million miles of natural gas pipelines. This network of pipelines comprises of interstate as well as intrastate pipelines. The interstate natural pipelines transport gas across states clear across the country and intrastate pipelines transport natural gas within the state though the operational and technical details are the same for inter-state and intra-state pipelines. A gas pipeline company is usually a huge conglomerate.

Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines The three major kinds of pipelines that are used to transport natural gas include the gathering system, the inter-state and intra-state pipelines and the distribution system Interstate pipelines are considered the 'highways' of gas and oil transmission. Natural gas travels great distances through the interstate gas pipelines at high pressures, which range from 200 pounds per square inch to as much as 1500 pounds per square inch. This high pressure serves to decrease the volume of the transported natural gas by as much as 600 times and acts as a propellant forcing the natural gas to move faster through the pipeline. The network of the interstate natural gas pipeline is used for natural gas transportation from processing plants to areas that have high requirements of natural gas.

Professional interested in buying or using natural gas for various applications can do a natural gas pipeline map search on the Internet to ascertain locations of various kinds of pipelines across the world. Natural gas industry

The natural gas industry is only a part of the overall energy industry and is defined by the many different aspects of getting natural gas- right from drilling deep underground to get natural gas to delivering it to the end user. Some of the aspects of the natural gas industry include:

*Exploration and Extraction *Production and Processing * Transportation *Storage *Distribution *Marketing

Some giant gas and oil companies are involved in all the processes involved, however others specialize in specific aspects. Most oil and gas pipeline companies and professionals can subscribe to a variety of pipeline gas journals to keep abreast of the latest news in the natural gas and oil industry.

Natural pipeline safety Some of the important safety precautions related to natural gas pipelines include:

*Aerial Patrols - Planes are commonly employed to ensure that no unauthorized construction or digging is carried out anywhere the pipeline route as this is a major threat to the safety of the pipeline. *Gas sampling: Natural gas that is present in the pipelines is routinely sampled for contaminants and also for any indication of interior corrosion in the pipeline. * Pipeline markers: The presence of underground pipelines is indicated by signs marked above ground so as to reduce inadvertent interference. *Leak Detection: Pipeline personnel periodically check the surface for leaks using equipment for detecting natural gas. This has special significance if the natural gas is odorless. *Preventive Maintenance: Pipelines and pipeline valves are routinely tested and surface impediments removed.

About the Author

Thomas H. Lindblom is a freelance article writer looking for interesting and unusual topics to write about. Gas pipelines are of major importance in today's world, and natural gas is supplied by gas pipeline companies to more than 175 million people.

Will Alberta's Oil Sands Go Nuclear?

While the idea has been discussed and debated since the oil sands has come into existance, it looks as though Alberta's oil sands could finally be turning to, of all things, nuclear power to satisfy the outrageously large demand for electricity. The ambitious project, spearheaded by the local subsidiary of a mega-conglomerate, is focused on loosening up large quantities of bitumen encased in limestone. As usual, both investors and environmental activists looking for up-to-the-second facts and opinion are turning to the blogosphere.

NEI Nuclear, a well-respected blog that offers news and commentary on the commercial nuclear energy industry, observes that while the idea of nuclear power in the oil sands has been considered before, "[it] looks like this is an idea with some staying power." NEI Nuclear has been chronicalling the goings-on in the oil sands and has seen its fair share of smoke and mirrors in regards to nuclear energy powering oil sands projects they seem confident that the big name involved in the concept indicates that action could be close at hand. The difference? "This time, the name involved is Royal Dutch Shell."

NEI Nuclear also quotes an older post of theres from December in which they quote Canada's Natural Resource Minister Gary Lunn saying that he's "very keen to see a new partnership between Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and a private Alberta company to build a Candu-reactor to power oilsands extraction."

Traditionally, oil sands projects have been fuelled by large quantities of natural gas. However, the amount of electricity required for Royal Dutch Shells' proposed project involves so much power, that the profit margin would be negated under current circumstances. Current estimates are that 60% of operating costs associated with an oil sands facility go directly to costs associated with natural gas.

Green Car Congress , well-respected for their opinions on green issues, has taken their research a few steps further, reporting that "Shell, through Calgary-based subsidiary Sure Northern Energy Ltd., paid the Alberta government C$571-million to acquire exploration rights 100 kilometers west of Fort McMurray."

The Energy Blog has a slightly different take on the matter in their latest blog post, quoting an item from World Nuclear News. "Energy Alberta is searching for communities to host the province's largest power station to provide emission-free power for oil sands projects. The company plans to build a C$6.2 billion ($5.6 billion) 2200 MWe twin Candu reactor plant in northern Alberta, and is looking at the town of Whitecourt among others. "

It seems like everybody plans to make cash from chaos in the oil sands and you can bet that investors and environmentalists will be paying attention to the goings-on in Northern Alberta for some time to come. As always, the best way to get the widest range of informed opinion is to keep an eye on the blogosphere.
About the Author

InvesLogic is something new. It's the first company to organize expert financial and business blogs worth reading into a new form of market intelligence. Please visit Inveslogic.com

World oil and gas

Oil and gas are some of the most important sources of energy on the planet and their availability is an immense factor as far as economic conditions are concerned. Oil represents about 40% of the globe's entire primary energy demand, while natural gas is beginning to have more and more uses, although its utilization has not met quite optimal considerations in the past

The general estimation is that the recoverable oil underneath the earth surface is of 2,330 billion barrels. An oil and gas study (Peack Oil by Colin Campbel, 1999) shows that out of the amount mentioned before, up to 90% labeled as discovered and approximately 50% produced. The same study shows that, today, the world consume reaches 4 barrels for each new one discovered.

This means that there is a production of about 22 barrels per year, while only six enter the area of those discovered. It is thus obvious that there is quite a big gap between consumption and discovery and that this gap is continuously widening as oil turns from a surplus to a deficit status. A later study mentions that if the report between productions and consuming remains the same, there might be resources for only another one hundred years left. The major oil and gas reserve locates in the Middle East and it represents about 65%. It is thus apparent that the distribution is not quite equitable and that consumption and production have a large gap separating them. Research has shown that North America, Far East, Oceania and Western Europe are the biggest consumers of oil, using about 77% of which they only produce 44.4% representing only 12.5% of the world's reserves. On the other hand, the Middle East generates 30% of the world's reserves and consumes only 6%.

There are a number of organizations formed in order to protect the exploitation of oil and natural gas. These organizations have as one of their main prerogatives to keep the influence of gas and oil under control as far as economical conditions are concerned.

Natural gas started to become more important as soon as the concerns about the diminishing amount of energy reserves have increased. These concerns as well as the ones regarding environmental hazards are putting more and more pressure on industries required to use a higher percentage of natural gas instead of using other sources of energy.

In order to make this official and to guarantee the compliance with its requirements, the legislation introduced developed at an international level. These new laws should control the operators. In this manner, many countries in the world are trying to use more natural gas, especially in the domestic environment. Most countries replace the use of oil with the one of gas in order to increase their exports or to reduce the amount of oil imported. The infrastructure for natural gas has experienced great development in most developed countries and gas has become a major focus for exploration. Most countries are trying to use as much natural gas as they can produce, however the countries in Western Europe are some of the largest consumers and depend on other countries to supply their need. Thus, many Eastern European countries very much rely on Russia, for example, to supply for their need of natural gas.

About the Author

Oil and gas form a mandatory component for the proper functioning of our society. The resources of natural gas can become quite problematic as the gap between production and consumption is getting wider every year.

Effect Of Current Oil Price to Global Oil Market

Current oil prices have increased almost 70% this year. There are a number of reasons for this increase, with three main reasons leading the list. First, there have been few new discoveries of oil in recent years. Second, there is a greater demand for oil especially from China, who is now the world's largest importer, second only to the United States of America. Third, there is uncertainty in many places around the globe over oil supplies because of war and terrorism. One example of this last point is the report on the arrest of more than 170 people suspected of plotting to attack of Saudi Arabian oil fields, dispute over Iran's nuclear program, and militant attacks and domestic disputes on Nigeria and Iraq.

These is a school of thought that teaches that oil price hikes are only the beginning of a long term trend. Current oil and gas prices are continuing to increase on a consistent basis, even in times of the year where they usually remain level or even drop a small about. This pattern has lead to a concern that an energy crisis is starting to emerge and the United States and every country in the world is about to experience a difficult period that will result in some hard changes in the way people live and work. The impact of higher oil prices on the economy and on investors is more complex that it would first appear. That is why taking a full global and historical perspective on the price of oil is important.

By looking at the Global Oil database, it can provide some analysis to help investors. Firstly, the increases in oil prices will have an impact on some economic sectors like the airline and auto industries. Secondly, high oil prices would certainly affect inflation. Recently, current oil price has already contributed to the moderate rise in U.S. prices. For Asian countries that experience higher oil demand in recent years, high oil prices would certainly be more unwelcome. China has already become a net oil importer. Net imports of oil would exceed 100 million tons this year, according to estimates. High oil prices would certainly eat into her trade surplus and hence trim economic growth. And lastly, as the demand for oil and human population increase, the world supply for oil will continueto decline. Thus, higher oil prices spur more exploration for oil, increase in the demand for oil substitutes like ethanol and biofuel, and encourage oil conservation.

About the Author

Mayoor Patel is the writer for the website http://oil-prices.oil-universe.com. Please visit for information on all things concerned with Current Oil Price

Gas Transmission - Behind the Scenes activity

Though it takes just a flick of a switch for the consumer to get natural gas, there is a huge amount of behind-the-scenes activity that is involved from the time natural gas is acquired from underground reserves, then processed and transported to the end user. The whole process involved in exploring oil and gas deposits is complex and full of risks and uncertainty. The trial-and-error element is huge considering oil and natural gas is only found thousands of feet underground. However recent technological advances have increased the success rate of locating and exploring natural gas reservoirs and enhanced the efficiency of gas transmission with reduced costs.

Extraction, production and processing of natural gas

Teams of geophysicists and exploration geologists are committed to locating potential underground oil and gas deposits. Then comes the daunting task of digging deep into the crust of the earth to find natural gas deposits that may or may not really exist. A team of drilling experts carries out onshore as well as offshore drilling using state-of-the art technology and innovative equipment.

After drilling the well, the commercial viability of the well has to be established taking into consideration the quantity of natural gas present and the costs of extraction. Natural gas, as it is found underground exists in association with a variety of different gases and compounds as well as with water and oil. This gas needs to be processed so that what reaches end users is almost entirely methane. Gas natural processing is carried out near the well itself to meet the high purity specifications that are required for natural gas transmission through the natural gas pipelines.

Natural gas transmission

Natural gas transmission is done through an elaborate and highly complex network of pipelines, also known as 'highways' of gas and oil transmission. Natural gas travels great distances through the pipelines at high pressure.

Gas transmission distribution is essentially carried out by three major kinds of pipelines:

* The gathering system, which comprise of low diameter, low pressure pipelines that are used in transporting raw natural gas from the source well to the processing plant. * The interstate pipelines, which are used for natural gas transmission across states clear across the country and intrastate pipelines, which are used for natural gas transmission within the state. The operational and technical details are the same for inter-state and intra-state pipelines. * The distribution system, which transports natural gas from gas storage facilities to end-users in homes and officers.

Gas Storage

Natural gas transmission as well as exploration and production are all closely linked to its storage. Gas processing as well its transportation, exploration and production are all lengthy processes and sometimes when the gas is ready to be used; it is not required right away. This ready-to-use gas is kept in gas storage facilities, which are large underground reservoirs, till it is needed. Natural gas storage is vital in order to maintain a reliable supply necessary to meet customer demands.

The three main kinds of underground storage include:

* Depleted gas reservoirs are most widely used because they already have existing wells, pipeline connections and gathering systems in place, which makes them easier to convert into storage facilities. * Natural aquifers are more suitable when there is a cap rock overlaying a water-bearing rock that has a sedimentary rock formation. The active water drive present in natural aquifers produces an increase in delivery rates. This kind of underground gas storage facility requires extra monitoring of injection and withdrawal performances as compared to depleted gas reservoirs. * Salt caverns are more expensive than the other two kinds of underground gas storage facilities. Their injection rating and withdrawal rate is very high because of the active gas capacity. The Gulf Coast states have the highest number of salt cavern underground storage facilities.

About the Author

Thomas H. Lindblom is a freelance journalism that is always lookig for iteresting topics to write about. "Gas Transmission - Behind the Scenes activity" helps us learn about the process of gas transmission, from the moment it is extracted, it's way through gas pipelines, until the moment it is distributed all over the world.

INVESTOR ALERT: OIL AND GAS INVESTMENT FRAUD

INVESTOR ALERT: OIL AND GAS INVESTMENT FRAUD BACKGROUND State securities regulators around the country warn that oil and gas investment scams are alive and well. High oil prices have created a heightened interest in investments in energy-related business ventures. Most oil and gas investment opportunities, while involving varying degrees of risks to the investor, are legitimate in their marketing and responsible in their operations. However, as in many other investment opportunities, it is not unusual for unscrupulous promoters to attempt to take advantage of investors by engaging in fraudulent practices. Although some of the con artists moved on to more lucrative venues since the oil boom ended in the mid-1980s, many continued to linger on in the oil field. Now with the constant fluctuation of oil prices, some of these people have made their way back to these kinds of scams. When there is a highly publicized economic circumstance, which creates an opportunity for money to be made legitimately, scamsters follow in the shadows to take advantage of the situation. WHAT ARE OIL AND GAS INVESTMENTS? Oil and gas investments take many forms, including limited partnership interests, ownership of fractional undivided interests in leases, and general partnerships. Tax consequences and investor liability vary according to the type of program. True general partnerships in which investors actively participate in the operations of the venture are not securities. A general partner, however, is personally liable for partnership debts. In a drilling limited partnership, an oil or gas company sells partnership units to investors and uses the money it raises to lease property and drill wells. In return for managing the project, the sponsor company usually takes an upfront fee that averages about 15-16% of one's investment (commonly referred to as tangible and intangible drilling costs) and also shares in a percentage of any revenue generated. In return, the promoter offers the investor the prospect of a substantial first year tax write-off and quarterly cash distributions from the sale of any oil and gas the partnership finds until the wells run dry. Drilling partnerships have always been a gamble, but recently, they have proven somewhat riskier than usual. This type of investment is very speculative, is a highly liquid investment and can have a long holding period.  FRAUDULENT SALES TECHNIQUES Fraudulent oil and gas deals are frequently structured with the limited partnership (or other legal entity) in one state, the operation and physical presence of the field in a second state, and the offerings made to prospective investors in states other than the initial two states. Thus there is less chance of an investor dropping by a well site or a nonexistent company headquarters. Such a structure also makes it difficult for law enforcement officials and victims to identify and expose the fraud. BOILER ROOMS & INTERNET PITCHES In order to attract the interest of potential investors, unprincipled promoters frequently use the Internet and "boiler room" offices with banks of phones manned by salespeople with little or no background in energy exploration, but plenty of experience in high-pressure sales. Their techniques include repeated unsolicited phone calls to members of the public, hyping the profitability of the deal. Some swindlers use professionally designed brochures. Beware of unsolicited oil and gas promotions on the internet and through e-mail. State securities regulators caution potential investors to beware of the following claims in a typical high-pressure sales pitch, whether through unsolicited telephone calls or e-mail messages: - You will have an interest in a well that cannot miss; - The risks are minimal; - A geologist has given the salesperson a tip; - The promoter has "hit" on every well drilled so far; - There has been a tremendous "discovery" in an adjacent field; - A large, reputable oil company is operating or planning to operate in the area; - Only a few interests remain to be sold and you should immediately send in your money in order to assure the purchase of an interest; - This is a special private deal open only to a lucky chosen few investors. INVESTOR CHECKLIST: HOW TO AVOID BEING SWINDLED State securities regulators advise potential investors not to be afraid to ask the hard questionswhen solicited for oil and gas investment opportunities. Investors wanting to make oil and gas investments should consider oil exploration and producing companies which are well- established and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. You can minimize the risk of being swindled if you resist pressures to make hurried, uninformed investment decisions. There are several steps you should take before parting with your money. State securities regulators have developed a checklist of five key areas to examine before investing.  1. The Registration Requirements * Ask if the offering is filed with the office of the state securities commission in your state or the state in which the promoters are located. If so, contact that agency for any information it may be able to provide. If the promoter claims that the offering is exempt from registration requirements in the particular state in which the offers and sales are made, find out which of the exemptions is claimed and the terms of the exemption. * Contact the state securities agency to confirm that the offering is indeed exempt. If the promoter claims a security is not involved at all, find out why and contact the state securities agency and confirm whether it really is a security being offered. 2. The Salesperson * If it is a legitimate deal, the salesperson will not be reluctant to answer questions or provide written explanations to questions. Ask the name of the person offering you the security, where he is calling from and his background, particularly in other oil or gas ventures. Ask what commission and/or other compensation the salesperson will receive. * Contact your state securities agency to find out if the promoter or salesperson has been sanctioned for previous violations of securities laws. 3. The Company * Ask the names of the principals of the company or the general partners offering the security, their backgrounds and experience in the oil and gas industry, and how long they have been associated with the company. Find out the history of the company, its capitalization, assets and retained earnings. What contingent liabilities does it have from other ventures? Does it have sufficient funds to cover unexpected costs? Is the tax treatment of the investments, as claimed by the promoters, supported by the Internal Revenue Service? * Find out the company's or general partners' history in drilling operations. In particular, ask how long it has been in the oil and gas business, the number of wells drilled, the number of wells completed as producing wells, and whether the company retained its interests in the wells it drilled. Determine if conflicts of interest involving the promoter are disclosed. All the above information should be contained in a prospectus or "offering documents" that the promoter must furnish potential investors before they commit their funds. 4. The Investment * Make sure funds raised are kept in a separate escrow account until used and that they won't be commingled with other funds. Also, be certain the funds will not be used for purposes other than those specified. Ask how much money is to be raised and the cost per fractional interest. Ask how much of the money will pay for advertising, salaries, sales commissions and any estimated profit to the company. Ask what type of conveyance document will be provided after any investment is made. * Assuming the well is completed, ask what the completion costs will be for each investor, including additional commissions to be paid (the purpose and amount), and whether investors may be obligated to pay in more money in the

About the Author

Mr. Martin is the founder and chief operations officer of Acuity Investigations, LLC based in Dallas, Texas. Acuity offers investor protection services such as: fraud protection and investor recovery services. His company is the developer of the DEVIL DOG Database and LEVEL3 Investor Protection program. He may be reached at: bmartin@www.acuityinvestigations.net or toll free, 888.583.9233, ext 704

Oil and Natual Gas Production in the Illinois Basin

Since its incorporation in June of 2000, Western Pipeline Corporation has been involved in oil and gas exploration in 5 states including six multi-well projects in the Illinois basin.

The Illinois basin is an oval depression containing Cambrian through Permian sedimentary rocks. A basin in geologic terms is a large-scale structural formation of rock. They are geologic depressions, the opposite of domes.

Three to five hundred million years ago Illinois was a shallow tropical ocean located near the equator at that time. The ocean left huge thicknesses of sand sediment behind which became sandstone. It also left behind billions of seashells. These shells and fragments of shells made of calcium carbonate combined to form limestone. During the Paleozoic Era the rocks were periodically bent and folded. The earth's crust periodically sank, creating the broad, depression called the Illinois basin.

The Illinois basin began as a failed rift. A failed rift occurs when continental rifting (when the Earth's crust and outer layer are pulled apart) began, but then failed to continue. After the rifting episode, the basin began to form as a thick succession of sandstone and carbonate rocks deposited above the center of the rift.

Basins appear on maps as almost circular or elliptical, with concentric layers of strata. The layers dip toward the center. If you look at the strata of a basin the oldest rocks are on the outside and get younger as you go in towards the center. Structural basins like the Illinois Basin are sources of coal, petroleum, and groundwater. The oil producing area of Illinois is part of the Illinois Basin. The Illinois Basin covers southern Illinois, western Kentucky and western Indiana.

Oil and natural gas have been produced in the Illinois basin from Paleozoic rocks. Most of the basin's hydrocarbons have been produced from sandstones, carbonate rocks as well as Devonian, Silurian, and Ordovician rocks.

The first attempt at drilling oil wells in Illinois was near Champaign in 1853. These wells produced "swamp gas" or "drift gas" from glacial fill but no oil. Since 1853, about 155,000 oil, gas, and injection wells have been drilled in Illinois.The first oil wells were drilled in the early 1860's. Commercial oil production began in Illinois in 1905. Most oil produced in Illinois from 1894 through 1937 was produced in shallow areas of less than 1000 feet. In 1937 deeper zones were discovered from 2,500 to 3,500 feet. The deepest well ever drilled was over 13,000 feet deep. Peak oil production occurred in Illinois between 1955 and 1963 with an average yearly production of 80 million barrels. The current yearly production is approximately 10-12 million barrels.

About the Author

Bob Jent is the CEO of Western Pipeline Corporation. Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.

Offshore Oil Drilling Labor

Natural oil and its by-products are perceived as valuable commodities across the world. Obtaining this high demand commodity from reservoirs where it has collected deep within the earth proves to be an inexact and demanding undertaking. Adding to the challenge of the oil drilling industry, no concrete methods have been discovered for accurately determining the location of oil deposits. The only way to know for certain if a location contains oil is to actually drill into the ground at the risk of a costly disappointment. What's more, offshore drilling facilities must reach into the depths of the earth underneath the floor of the ocean using specialized industrial equipment to extract oil. Nonetheless, successful offshore oil drilling operations are set up at the locations of producing reservoirs throughout the world.

Oil drilling operations originally took place only on land. Next shallow water drilling evolved, and eventually extensive equipment made offshore deep ocean drilling feasible. Since oil forms from the remains of ancient sea life under intense heat and pressure for millions of years, the ocean bottom is a desirable site for oil exploration. For marine oil and natural gas drilling, offshore oil platforms are set up in the ocean above the location that is to be drilled. Platforms can be anchored to the ocean floor, float on the surface or create an artificial island in the sea.

Laborers who work on offshore oil drilling rigs typically spend weeks at a time at sea living either on the platform or in a nearby anchored ship. Many oil platforms contain amenities similar to those in hotels such as a means of eating, places for sleeping and laundry facilities which allow workers to reside on the rig for extended periods of time. A schedule is typically arranged such that workers stay offshore and work with members of their team for a specified number of days, then return to shore for another specified number of days. For instance, a common schedule is for a worker to stay offshore for fourteen days, and then return home for fourteen to twenty one days at a time. Anyone considering employment on an offshore rig should assess his or her ability to meet the physical demands inherent to the job as well as whether a career with extended time away from home is a suitable lifestyle. Offshore oil jobs can facilitate lucrative careers for fitting individuals.

About the Author

About the Author: Bob Jent is the CEO of Western Pipeline Corporation. Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.

United States Oil Consumption

The United States consumes eleven percent of world oil production and imports 60% of this oil from foreign sources. Consumption continues to grow and is projected to increase by 44 percent by 2025. Domestic production is expected to meet only 30 percent of the need in 2025. If these projections pan out this means that we will be importing 10 percent more oil in 2025 than now. It's frightening to think what the price of gasoline will be in 2025 if these projections become a reality. Hopefully, by then we will have alternates sources of energy to meet a large part of our needs.

Consumption of oil by developing nations is expected to double over the next 20 years leading to increased competition for oil exports. China's oil consumption is increasing at record paces every year.

These developing nations will represent 62 percent of the growth in worldwide petroleum consumption. Petroleum consumption in the developing countries was just over one-half of the total consumption of the industrialized countries in 1997. It is projected to reach 90 percent of the total consumption of the industrialized countries by 2020. This means developing countries will be competing at almost the same level with industrialized countries for a scarce resource. The projected world demand of 118 million barrels a day in 2025 would require global oil output to expand by more than fifty percent.

According to these projections the U.S. will need 44% more oil by 2025, 10% more from foreign sources and will have twice as much competition from developing countries in acquiring the oil. At the same time, proven reserves of conventional oil are projected to peak over the next 10 to 20 years.

Various alternative sources of energy are being pursued by oil companies, like Western Pipeline Corporation, to address the issue. Further development of existing, producing domestic oil reserves, exploration and extraction of heavy oil and natural bitumen which holds enormous promise, solar, wind, hydrogen and natural gas power are all being developed.

Current energy policy is targeting eight nations as alternative oil suppliers for increased government investment and closer political alliances: Angola, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and Venezuela. The hope is that these alliances will help counter the risk of over 25 percent of U.S. oil coming from Arab OPEC states. By 2025, OPEC is expected to be producing 46 percent of the world's oil.

About the Author

Bob Jent is the CEO of {a href=" http://westernpipeline.blogspot.com/2007/06/united-states-oil-consumption.html "}Western Pipeline Corporation.{a href=" http://westernpipeline.blogspot.com/2007/06/united-states-oil-consumption.html"} Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.

Natural Gas Demand in the United States

Demand for natural gas in the United States has more than doubled over the last twenty years, while supply has been flat. The existing producing gas fields are being exhausted. To maintain production companies like, Western Pipeline Corporation, are extracting gas more efficiently from existing wells and using advanced technology to find more wells to drill.

There are many environmental and economic benefits associated with natural gas. Natural gas produces no emissions of sulfur dioxide or particulate matter and much lower levels of greenhouse gases and nitrogen oxides than oil and coal. The impact on water quality is far less also as it produces no solid waste. The cleanliness of natural gas compared with other fuels combined with the high efficiency of natural gas equipment can help reduce air pollutants that produce smog and acid rain.

Natural gas is used in over 60 million homes, 78 percent of restaurants, 73 percent of lodging facilities, 51 percent of hospitals, 59 percent of offices and 58 percent of retail buildings. It's the nation's fastest growing energy source with expected increases in demand of 22 percent by 2030. In 2005, Americans used 21.9 trillion cubic feet while producing only 18.2 trillion cubic feet. The shortfall was met by foreign imports, predominantly from Canada where it's easily shipped south via pipeline. But Canada's natural gas production is also flat. It's expected that Canada will export less natural gas as it uses more of it to extract crude oil from the oils sands in Alberta.

U.S. production of natural gas has been flat for the last 20 years. It's estimated that there is enough natural gas in the undiscovered natural gas resources of the U.S. to last more than 47 years at current production rates. Federal lands contain the majority of this undiscovered natural gas. However, exploration on federal lands is restricted by Congress. Diversification of natural gas supply is possible using unconventional sources, such as tight sands gas, shale and coal bed natural gas.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are expected to make up a larger share of our natural gas needs. Liquefied Natural Gas is created by cooling normal natural gas to 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. It's delivered via superinsulated ships and re-gasified at its destination. As demand rises the shortfalls in domestic supply will increasingly be met by LNG. A big reason LNG is gaining in popularity is because natural gas reserves held by the big Western oil companies are growing at a faster pace than their crude oil reserves. The growth rate for natural gas reserves is about 4 percent, while the growth rate for crude reserves is less than 1 percent. There are currently only five LNG terminals in the U.S. while more than 40 are on the drawing board. However, locating LNG facilities is hard because of the fear of explosions.

About the Author

Bob Jent is the CEO of {a href=" http://westernpipeline.blogspot.com/2007/06/natural-gas-demand-in-united-states.html "}Western Pipeline Corporation.{a href=" http://westernpipeline.blogspot.com/2007/06/natural-gas-demand-in-united-states.html"} Western Pipeline Corp specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing existing, producing reserves on behalf of its individual clients.