• Explain The Economic Role Of Government And Environmental Issues Related To The Natural Environment

Explain the economic, political (role of government) and environmental issues related to the extraction/production, transport and consumption of oil as a natural resource.

During the extraction/production of oil there are many environmental hazards that can take place. The biggest issue relating to this process is the effects of oil drilling. The dust particles from the drilling process coats the surrounding areas, and flamed from burning the natural gas found in oil fields cause air pollution. The piping used to extract and transport the oil is made up of metals which easily corrode over time. This corrosion causes pipes to rupture which then will contaminate the environment surrounding it. Entire ecosystems may possibly dissolve due to the

91% of the operational spills are small but they do result in less than 67 metric tons of oil spillage. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are present in the oil spillage which are incredibly difficult to clean up during an oil spill and can cause many diseases to marine species. The result of an oil spill is horrific; oil penetrated the plumage of a bird which causes them to be more vulnerable to temperature fluctuation which leads to them becoming less buoyant in the water. The oil coats heavily furred marine mammals reducing its fluctuations in body temperature and can result in hypothermia. If the oil enters lungs or livers of animals, they can be poisoned and may die. Oil spills are also an immediate fire hazards to the environment and it will contaminate drinking water supplies. The use of pipelines is also an effective way of transporting oil but has many issues and impacts on the environment. Although direct environmental risks of pipelines are relatively low, there are many risks and issues that occur due to pipelines. The older the pipeline the more vulnerable to rupture as people have difficulty locating the older ones. The uses of pipelines are increasing by 6% per year and ruptures are slowly

The demand is still rising despite the price but the supply of oil is a major issue in some countries. In December 27th 2011, the Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi threatened to cut off oil supply from the Strait of Hurmuz should economic sanctions limit or cut off Iranian oil experts. Oil markets did not react much to this threat despite of the 2% rise in oil prices. “They cannot stop the flow for a longer period due to the amount of U.S hardware in the area.” This was said by Thorbjeorn Bak Jensen who is a Global Risk Management. The U.S is the country with the highest rate of oil consumption of 18,840,000 barrels per day and rising. The Strait of Hurmuz is one of the main parts of transporting oil which is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. About 35% of the world’s petroleum which is traded by sea will pass through the strait. This makes it a highly important and strategic location for international trade of oil. In 2011, 14 tankers per day went through the Strait of Hurmuz carrying 17 million barrels of crude