Energy Technology
Five lies they’re telling you about the Mayflower pipeline spill
I wrote yesterday about the regrettable spill by ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. in Mayflower, Arkansas. We have apologized to the people of Mayflower and all of Arkansas and will be there until the cleanup is complete. What I thought I’d talk about today are the top five inaccuracies being spread by anti-fossil fuel activists seeking to…
“All the (unexciting, but transformative) news fit to print”
The readers of The New York Times opened their papers this morning to find an insightful column with some, perhaps, unfamiliar ideas. In the “Axis of Ennui,” respected columnist David Brooks writes about the “boring” people and industries that are transforming the U.S. economy for the better. At the top of his list is the U.S. energy industry.
Will oil and gas produce a more golden future for California?
The Golden State might be looking a little more golden. That’s the gist of a piece in the most recent issue of The Economist about California’s plans to deal with its huge bounty of shale oil. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California’s Monterey/Santos shale play might hold an astounding 15.4 billion barrels of oil. How much is that? Enough to meet California’s current level of petroleum consumption for 44 years.
Why is heart surgery like drilling for oil and gas?
True innovation can mean finding solutions in unlikely places. At ExxonMobil, we’re constantly seeking new ways to help us take on the world’s toughest energy challenges. Sometimes that means looking in the last place you’d expect, like the hospital. Several years ago, an ExxonMobil engineer found himself on a flight seated next to Dr. Alan Lumsden, a cardiovascular surgeon with the renowned DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center at Houston’s Methodist Hospital. It was a fortuitous seating assignment.
Science trumps fiction on oil sands corrosion claims
Once again, science is helping to sort fact from fiction to support important decisions on energy policy. This time, it’s a study by some of Canada’s top scientists who have examined whether crude oil from oil sands is more corrosive for pipelines than conventional crudes they typically carry – a claim often cited without evidence by oil-sands critics. The researchers recently concluded that the oil sands samples they tested were actually less corrosive than several of the other oils tested.
Conserving water in Canada’s oil sands
Developing Canada’s oil sands requires water to produce steam. For years the industry has relied on both groundwater and surface water sources. From the start, we have looked for ways to do more with less. So ExxonMobil’s long-term investments and research with our Imperial Oil affiliate have led to state-of-the-art water recycling techniques that have dramatically reduced the water requirements for oil sands production.
