In 1989, a breakdown in communications and a lapse in procedure caused the Exxon Valdez to run aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of Alaska crude. In the wake of this costly disaster, Congress enacted the Oil...
Oil production typically starts with exploration that uses seismology and drilling to locate geological formations that contain oil. To access an oil reservoir, a drilling platform is placed over the site. At the bottom of the rotating drill pipe l...
Because petroleum sources can be found in vastly different regions, producers must mitigate the impact of crude oil production on its surrounding ecosystems. The principal waste stream from production at ARCO's Coles-Levee field in California is co...
Transportation of crude and petroleum products via pipeline and marine vessels is an integral part of the oil industry. The products are also stored in large tank farms. Over land, pipelines handle most of this load, transporting crude oil (dark p...
Carbon, the building block of life, can bond with itself and hydrogen in an infinite number of ways to form molecules called hydrocarbons. Crude oil is a mixture of all lengths of carbon chains, depending on the source. It can be viscous and conta...
The first step in controlling wastes is understanding where and how they are generated. Engineers and environmental managers use a tool called a block flow diagram to make sense of complex industrial processes. They also use a technique called mas...