Word: petroleum
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...tanks. Moreover, Rosenberg believes that his bugs may turn even the ballast water into profit. He figures that after the bacteria have cleaned the tanks in a 200,000-ton supertanker, the ballast could yield some 200 tons of dewaxed oil (which can be made into gasoline and other petroleum products). Beyond that, they can be harvested to produce about 150 tons of high-quality animal food...
North Sea oil is low in sulfur content, and thus relatively nonpolluting. More important, it lies on Western Europe's doorstep; British Petroleum's "Forties" field (see map) is only 115 miles off the Scottish coast. By contrast, much Persian Gulf oil must now be hauled 11,000 miles by tanker around Africa before it reaches Europe. Fuel from the North Sea promises to supply 10% to 15% of Europe's energy needs by 1980-not enough to materially reduce dependence on the Mideast, but perhaps sufficient to enable the Continent to survive a brief shutoff...
Bringing the oil out, however, in the face of the North Sea's 100-m.p.h. winds and 90-ft. waves presents a formidable technological challenge. Brown & Root, a U.S. construction firm, is helping to build two semisubmersible drilling platforms for British Petroleum in Scotland. They will be 700 ft. tall, about the size of the largest office building in Europe. A Norwegian firm is building for Phillips Petroleum a 1,000,000-bbl. at-sea storage tank with a double shell; the exterior is perforated to absorb the impact of the giant waves. This technology is so expensive that...
Several European governments will benefit especially from the boom. The British government eventually will be extracting about $1.2 billion a year in taxes from private producers operating in its area of the sea-in addition to its interest in the profits of British Petroleum, which is 48% owned by the crown. Norway will have to export the oil from its area, since the undersea terrain makes building a pipeline to Norway impossible. Two weeks ago, the Norwegian Parliament approved a proposal to pipe oil from its Ekofisk fields to Britain and gas to Germany. By 1980, sales of North...
Since 1970 the price that the producing countries receive for their crude has risen 72%, and the major multinational oil companies are committed to additional 10% price hikes in each of the next two years. In addition, they are negotiating with officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on yet another price increase that would compensate the exporters for the devaluation of the dollar in February. The price of interstate natural-gas shipments, which is regulated by the Federal Power Commission, has never been allowed to surpass 34? per 1,000 cu. ft. But if Congress votes...