When I was in my late 40’s I decided to go back into engineering after 20 odd years as an industrial salesman.
It was quite a change from having a company car and wearing a suit to suddenly wearing a blue boiler suit. I was fortunate to go and work for an old established power generation facilitator called Matsui Babcock, formerly Babcock & Wilcox.
Babcock had a large factory facility up in Renfrew Near Glasgow Scotland. In late 1800’s the Clyde was one of the preeminent shipbuilding industries in the world for steamships and each steam ship need boilers to heat steam to drive the engines which were powered by coal. This is where Babcocks and their boilers became the stream boiler of choice in coal fired steamships.
Babcocks went on to provide steam generation Boilers for coal fired power stations and for gas fired and nuclear power stations that require high pressure steam to generate electrical power.
I was given the opportunity to retrain as coded integrity pipe and structural welder at their welder training school in Tipton West Midlands. The Engineering Construction Industries training board offered training in engineering and welding. National Vocational Qualifications in construction engineering & welding.
I spent about 4 months going through their National Development Scheme. It was very hands on as welding is a practical skill. All welders have to pass a weld test on each and every project. The weld testing is rigorous and has to be carried out in the 6g position on pipe of various materials and sizes. 6g is in the 45 degree position.
After a couple of years of improving my workshop welding skills I decided to go out on site or as on site construction welder. First large project I worked on was in Holland for a Dutch piping company that was a subcontractor to Heerema’s rig yard in Zwijndrecht.
I worked on new pipe work installation for Exonmobile/ Shell new floating offshore production platform the Bonga. Which was for the Shell Bonga oilfield off the coast of Nigeria.
I suppose what really struck me about working on large oil & gas projects such as the Bonga and Natural Gas Storage projects at SouthHook LNG storage facility Pembrokeshire was the sheer size of them. It always seemed to me money was no object and working in the oil & gas industry you were well paid as a construction pipe welder.
Modern western civilisation has become more or less totally dependent for energy use from fossil fuels. Yes we’re trying to slowly reduce our dependency and move to renewables but it’s still a very small share in reality at only 11%. We’ve got a long way to go to move away from fossil fuels for energy generation.
What countries have the major resources of oil & gas plus coal.
Top Ten Oil Produces;
USA 11 million Barrels Per Day (BBL)
Russia 10 million BBL
Saudi Arabia 9 million BBL
Canada 4 million BBL
Iraq 4 million BBL
China 4 million BBL
United Arab Emirates 3 million BBL
Brazil 3 million BBL
Iran 2.6 million BBL
Kuwait 2.6 million BBL
In a barrel of crude is 159 litres or 34 imperial gals or 42 US gals.
Oil and gas had already been used in some capacity, such as in lamps or as a material for construction, for thousands of years before the modern era, with the earliest known oil wells being drilled in China in 347 AD.
The modern history of the oil and gas industry started in 1847, with a discovery made by Scottish chemist James Young. He observed natural petroleum seepage in the Riddings coal mine, and from this seepage distilled both a light thin oil suitable for lamps and a thicker oil suitable for lubrication.
Following these successful distillations, Young experimented further with coal and was able to distil a number of liquids including an early form of petroleum. He patented these oils and paraffin wax, also distilled from coal, in 1850, and later that year formed a partnership with geologist Edward William Binney.
The partners formed the first truly commercial oil refinery and oil-works in the world, manufacturing oil and paraffin wax from locally mined coal.
Young wasn’t the only scientist making discoveries about coal in the 19th century. In 1846, Canadian geologist Abraham Pineo Gesner refined a liquid from coal, oil shale and bitumen that was cheaper and burned more cleanly than other oils. He dubbed this liquid ‘kerosene’ and founded the Kerosene Gaslight Company in 1850, using the oil to light the streets of Halifax and later the US.
From these initial discoveries, new businesses were created, with the coal industry now also seeking to create the oils developed by Young and Gesner. Polish engineer Ignacy Łukasiewicz improved Gesner’s method to more easily distil kerosene and petroleum in 1852, opening the first ‘rock oil’ mine in Bóbrka, Poland in 1854.
The first oil well drilled was in the town of La Brea, Trinidad in 1857. It was drilled to a depth of 280ft by the American Merrimac Company.
The first modern oil well in America was drilled by Edwin Drake in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. The discovery of petroleum in Titusville led to the Pennsylvania ‘oil rush’, making oil one of the most valuable commodities in America.
The late 18th century and the early 19th century marked the creation of major oil companies that still dominate the oil and gas industry today.
John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1865, becoming the world’s first oil baron. Standard Oil quickly became the most profitable in Ohio, controlling about 90% of America’s refining capacity and a number of its gathering systems and pipelines.
ExxonMobil, one of Standard’s successors after it dissolved in 1911, is the world’s ninth largest company by revenue today.
In Russia, the Rothschild family commissioned oil tankers from British trader Marcus Samuel to expand their oil operations and reach more overseas customers. Samuel’s first vessel, the Murex – named after a sea snail – became the first oil tanker to pass through the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
The Murex became the flagship vessel of Shell Transport and Trading, which eventually merged with Royal Dutch Petroleum to become Royal Dutch Shell. Today, Royal Dutch Shell is the fifth largest company in the world and one of six oil and gas supermajors.
The discovery of oil in Masjed Soleyman, Iran by William Knox D’Arcy led to the incorporation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) in 1907. The British Government purchased 51% of the company to provide the Navy with oil during World War I in 1914. In 1954, APOC became British Petroleum, known today as BP, which is currently the sixth largest oil and gas company in the world.
In the late 20th century, changes in the oil market moved influence from generally oil-consuming areas such as the US and Europe to oil-producing countries.
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia formed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960 in response to multinationals in the ‘Seven Sisters’ including ExxonMobil – at the time split into Esso and Mobil – Shell and BP, which operated from oil-consuming countries.
Today, OPEC has 15 member countries, accounting for approximately 44% of global oil production and 81.5% of the world’s oil reserves.
The 1980s saw a significant glut in oil following the 1970 energy crisis. Petroleum production peaked in the 1970s, which caused a sharp rise in oil price and a subsequent decrease in demand.
Oil-producing countries suffered during this glut, with OPEC struggling to maintain high oil prices through decreasing oil production. The dissolution of the Soviet Union can also be attributed in part to a loss of influence as an oil producer.
The glut lasted six years, with oil prices gradually recovering in 1986, but a similar surplus in oil started in 2014 and continues to have effects on global oil prices.
The oil and gas industry is still thriving today despite competition from renewable sources of energy, albeit in a more volatile state than ever due to world events.
Natural Gas producers in One million cubic feet of gas or mmcf.
Top Ten Annual Natural Gas Producers
USA 33,000,000,000 mmcf
Russia 23,000,000,000 mmcf
Iran 9,000,000,000 mmcf
Canada 7,000,000,000 mmcf
Algeria 6,000,000,000 mmcf
Qatar 6,000,000,000 mmcf
Norway 6,000,000,000 mmcf
China 5,000,000,000 mmcf
Saudi Arabia 4,000,000,000 mmcf
United Arab Emirates 3,000,000,000 mmcf
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas.
Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is another fossil fuel found close to and with natural gas. Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms: biogenic and thermogenic.
Biogenic gas is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, landfills, and shallow sediments. Deeper in the earth, at greater temperature and pressure, thermogenic gas is created from buried organic material.
Top Ten Coal producing countries of the world in Millions of Tons per annum
China 3900
India 757
Indonesia 563
United States 485
Australia 477
Russia 400
South Africa 248
Kazakhstan 113
Germany 107
Poland 101
Coal in Britain powered the industrial revolution one early famous coalfield was in Shropshire called Coalbrookdale Coalfield which is a coalfield in Shropshire in the English Midlands. It extends from Broseley in the south, northwards to the Boundary Fault which runs northeastwards from the vicinity of The Wrekin past Lilleshall. The former coalfield has been built on by the new town of Telford.
By the 19th century, stationary steam engines powered the factories of the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines replaced sails for ships on paddle steamers, and steam locomotives operated on the railways. For Britain coal was the energy that powered the nation to produce the first steel ships such as the SS Great Britain and many of the famous suspension bridges built by famous engineers such as Thomas Telford, Robert Stevenson and Brunel. With out the coal fields of Britain and Scotland we wouldn’t of had the industrial revolution
From around 1750 to 1850, the Industrial Revolution changed life in Britain. It was a very important period in British history.
During this time, factories were built, to produce goods such as textiles, iron, and chemicals on a large scale. The steam-engine was invented, which could do more work than men or animals, and canals and railways were built, to transport goods and materials for manufacturing.
The Industrial Revolution created a huge demand for coal, to power new machines such as the steam-engine. In 1750, Britain was producing 5.2 million tons of coal per year. By 1850, it was producing 62.5 million tons per year – more than ten times greater than in 1750.
Here is a picture of a coal miner from 1814, when the Industrial Revolution was gathering pace. In the background, there is a steam-powered locomotive, used to transport the coal in waggons along rails, and steam-powered mine machinery, designed to help the miners bring the coal to the surface and to pump out water from the mine. Animals, such as the horse in the background, were still being put to work, but the new machines were much more powerful.
Coal production peaked at 292 million tonnes in 1913 now its 150 x lower.
Surely there’s a link with fossilised energy resource’s and top counties GDP in nominal terms in US Dollars in Trillions;
United States $21
China $15
Japan $5
Germany $4
United Kingdom $3
India $3
France $3
Italy $2
Canada $2
South Korea €2
The USA always seems to be at the top of the league in most areas of fossil fuel resource countries which has helped to drive it’s powerful economic success. Natural resources are major advantage for a nations especially oil,gas and coal. Let’s look at authoritarian regimes who have wealth through fossil energy resources.
Regimes that don’t adhere to free and fair elections Here’s five are criteria : 1. Whether elections are free and fair (“electoral process and pluralism”), 2 whether governments have checks and balances (“functioning of government”), 3 whether citizens are included in politics (“political participation”), 4 the level of support for the government (“political culture”), and 5 whether people have freedom of expression (“civil liberties”). Yes we know some democracies are tainted by corrupt practices and USA nearly came unstuck with President Trump and his recent insurrections against the political will of the people.
Score ratio 10 being a democratic free and fair elections systems and lower the score the more authoritarian the regime. Here is a list of authoritarian regimes.
UAE 2.69/10
Azerbaijan 2.65/10
Afghanistan 2.55/10
Iran 2.45/10
Eritrea 2.37/10
Laos 2.37/10
Burundi 2.33/10
Libya 2.32/10
Sudan 2.15/10
Yemen 2.07/10
Guinea Bissau 1.98/10
The principal difference between a democracy and an authoritarian government is that in the former, people have a greater say in political affairs, get to choose who leads them, and there are checks and balances on executive power. In the latter, power is more closely tied to one person or group of people who restrict the ability of the population to decide their own future.
Typically, the state places limits on the free press, on the judiciary’s independence, or on the powers of the parliament. Where democracy represents pluralism, authoritarianism typifies repression.
Elections in a democracy are freer, involve choice between different options, and the government does not interfere in the outcome. In an authoritarian style of government, there may or may not be elections, but the choice will inevitably be more limited, be subject to more interference from the incumbent government, and it may not accept to leave if it loses.
A free press, an independent judiciary, the ability for civil society to get organised, and free speech are all pillars of democracy. Each of these aspects is crucial to allow scrutiny of the government’s actions. In a democracy, the ability to criticise the government makes it possible for people to speak their mind, which in turn encourages creativity, innovation and improvement.
When an authoritarian government makes it harder for journalists to do their job, for example by restricting their ability to operate or by encouraging attacks against the media, it inevitably makes it harder for a narrative different from the government’s to emerge. That means people are more likely to only get the ruling party’s version of an event. In other words, the government can manipulate the population through propaganda.
This is main problem with authoritarian regimes. Trump was using the authoritarian play book with his constant lying and manipulation of so call facts. The authoritarian uses all these things to control the populace mainly through fear. They love to use scapegoats. The Jew, gipsy the lazy, Saddam has weapons of mass destruction he must be eliminated . The Ukrainians are nazis and are persecuting ethnic Russians in the Donbas they must be eliminated and brought under Russian control! Dictators love to use a pretext or an excuse for invading a weaker nation.
Having natural resources such as oil gas and coal gives them the revenue to spend on militaries and corruption is at the base of their playbooks and they buy people off, in fact they run their countries like a gangster runs a mob. Strange thing Germany moved away from nuclear energy becoming beholden to Russia for Natural gas. Now it’s had to cancel a second LNG (Nordstream 2) pipe line but is still buying gas from Russia. In an financial indirect way its financing Russians military machine. Germany has placed itself in a weak strategic position relying on gas from a country run by despotic dictator.
Dictators run their countries by fear, there’s a hierarchy of corruption meaning it depends upon your level of power in the organisation that dictates the level of skimming off (corruption) you’re personally allowed. But your power is always beholden to the leader of the mob or the dictator of the authoritarian regime.
With out Oil, Gas and coal the authoritarian regime’s wouldn’t be able to operate. Don’t get me wrong democracies such as the USA have caused many deaths over the years through its military operations in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. But at least in the US the people are able to rebel against governments who promote constant wars and they are able to vote at an election every 4 years. Which nearly failed recently through a Trump lead republican insurrection.
The paradox of fossilised fuels resources it’s created the modern Industrial age but has a dark insidious nature of corruption and is causing constant environmental and climatic disaster.
Natural landscape destruction Tar sands in Alberta. Oil pollution in the Niger delta, deep horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Exon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Deep coal mining of world had caused umpteen loss of life. With flash fires explosions and collapse of mine shafts and workings.
How do we move away from high energy life styles?
This recent Ukrainian invasion of Russia has had me pondering why the UN or NATO didn’t go in to support the Ukrainian directly? When Saddam Hussain invaded Kuwait with his army the western allies quickly acted and brought to bare lots of military hardware and muscle and quickly kicked out Saddam Hussain’s army from Kuwait in the first Iraq war. Kuwait had oil fields which the west relied on for its energy needs.
What if Ukraine had major natural gas and oil reserves would the western allies have stood by when Russia invaded? Kuwait wasn’t part of NATO lots hypocrisy here with the response of western counties. Has it been because of the threat of nuclear war? Saddam had supposed weapons of mass destruction? It didn’t stop western forces invading Iraq? If Russia army recent Ukrainian invasion is anything to go by regarding the state of their military equipment what if most of its nuclear arsenal is poorly maintained and inoperable?
Surprisingly enough Ukraine does have significant Natural Gas 23rd in the world 39,000,000 million cubic feet. Ukraine also has oil reserves 395, 000,000 barrels 51st in the world and finally very large coal reserves 37,891,906,205 tons ranked 7th in the world?
Where are these natural fossil reserves but in the Crimea ,Donbas and Donetsk regions where all Ukraine heavy industry is based. Putin probably had that area of occupation on his agenda all along. But why hasn’t NATO got involved in more hands on way? If Putin digs in and stays in South eastern Ukraine it will always be an ongoing problem for Ukraine and the west?
It’s a difficult situation really the Russians should have got get kicked out of Crimea long ago but the west was weak to intervene and that’s what’s caused this escalation now into a full blown Ukrainian war.
Everyday the news has become very bleak to read with humans being exterminated by a crazy dictator. In the background we have slow insidious threat of climate change. Energy prices going through the roof. But does it stop us using fossil fuels No! West is now scrambling for energy. Shouting more renewables more nuclear power stations. But what about reducing our consumption of them by improving our public transport systems. No sorry we’re wedded to the automobile.
The latest announcement from the UN on IPCC report is grim very grim. What are we doing about it as far as I can see zilch!
Finally I read to day that Germany industry is extremely worried if the war in Ukraine teally intensifies and gas is cut off by Russia. This will have a immediate and severe effect on German industry! it would mean companies not being able to produce anything like the whole plethora of goods without natural gas for its energy needs.
Oil, Gas and Coal are strategic energy commodities, surely now is the time for us to wean ourselves from them. And its only through adversity that we are forced to come up with novel ways to reduce our dependency upon them for ever.