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Oil's Spoils
The energy vector in the United States points strongly to more fossil fuel consumption. Unconventional tar sands and shale oil reserves in North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado are said by the Energy Department to contain trillions of barrels of oil, enough to fuel the country at the current level of demand - about 7 billion barrels a year -- for hundreds of years.
Developers in North Dakota are spending roughly $7 billion annually to drill 1,000 wells into the Bakken Shale -an oil-rich formation that also lies deep below Montana and parts of Canada. The investment is reaping a bonanza-100 million barrels of oil and 100 billion cubic feet of gas this year-making the state the nation's fourth largest producer of oil, just behind Texas, Alaska and California. Three years ago it was barely in the top ten.
Farther west, in Kern County, Calif., the oil industry dominates the race with agriculture for the limited supplies of water for irrigation and energy production. While a severe drought wracked the state, and agricultural and environmental groups wrangled over sharply reduced water shipments to irrigate the arid San Joaquin Valley, the oil industry received 8.4 billion gallons a year-as much water as it needed.
Feature Stories
Production from the Bakken Shale is projected to use up to 5.5 billion gallons of water annually.
Farmers do without water because of oil industry uses.
Indigenous leaders from Amazon rainforests to Bayou swamplands.
A documentary filmmaker lands his own day in court against the oil giant.
Big spills and bigger damage to people and water resources around the globe.
Nigeria has been pumping vast amounts of oil since the 1950s. This map shows the oil fields, pipelines, and terminals in relation to the Niger Delta’s main cities and its differing types of vegetation, from swamplands to rainforests.
Thousands Search for Fresh Water, Food in a Monumentally Contaminated War Zone
A “New Great Game” of Geopolitical Control Surfaces in Russia’s Old Backyard
Oil Stories
The world’s largest energy consuming country is plagued by potential ecological damage.
Landmark act could be used by the federal government to recover billions in fines, send people to jail.
The worst oil leak in U.S. history and is now compromising the existence of wildlife in Louisiana’s marshlands.
The oil spill from an oil rig explosion could be leaking oil at five times the rate previously assumed.
A burst pipeline in northern Iraq has forced authorities to close down three municipal water treatment plants.
More than 125,000 people have filed a class-action lawsuit in Ecuador.
Comprising 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply, southern Siberia’s Lake Baikal could tell us how oil forms.
Delaware petroleum corporation CITGO faces a $13 million fine for its recent Clean Water Act violation.
Haldia Water Management Ltd (HWML) was awarded a contract to build a large-scale water treatment plant.
Coast Guard officials have acted quickly to close down 29 miles of the Mississippi River near New Orleans.
A race for the world’s resources is underway, resembling the decades leading up to WWI.
Multi-Media
North Dakota has become the number four oil producing state—but at what cost to its water supply?
Details of the ten worst oil spills in history by volume, date, location, and company damages.
Featuring Live Earth, Vanity Fair cover, and a CNN Hero Award.
Government
- Argonne National Laboratory, Energy Systems Division: prepared for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Consumptive Water Use in the Production of Ethanol and Petroleum Gasoline (January 2009)
- Argonne National Laboratory, Environmental Science Division: prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Issues Associated with Heavy Oil Production (2008)
- Argonne National Laboratory, Environmental Science Division: prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in the United States (2009)
- Argonne National Laboratory: prepared for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) A White Paper Describing Water from Production of Crude oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Bed Methane (January 2004)
- Sandia National Laboratories Overview of Energy-Water Interdependencies and the Emerging Energy Demands on Water Resources (March 2007)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Demands on Water Resources: Report to Congress on the Interdependency of Energy and Water (December 2006)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Emerging Issues for Fossil Energy and Water: Investigation of Water Issues Related to Coal Mining, Coal to Liquids, Oil Shale, and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (June 2006)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): Office of Energy-Water RD&D Programs, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Addressing the Critical Link Between Fossil Energy and Water (October 2005)
Media
- Carpe Diem: Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance Record High North Dakota Oil Production in May (July 14, 2010)
- Casper Star Tribune Wyoming Residents Told What To Expect If Niobrara Oil Play Becomes Boom (September 2, 2010)
- Heat USA Water Scarcity Major Obstacle to Oil Shale Development in the West (June 12, 2009)
- MoneyEnergy Turning Oil Into Water: The Middle Eastern Resource Accident Waiting To Happen? (July 10, 2009)
- The New York Times Water Scarcity and the Western Oil Shales (September 9, 2009)
Institutes
- American Petroleum Institute Laboratory Analysis of Petroleum Industry Wastewaters: Arranging for Analysis and Understanding Laboratory Reports (December 1999)
- American Petroleum Institute Analytical Detection and Quantification Limits: A Survey of State and Federal Approaches (June 2002)
- American Petroleum Institute Oil Spills in Navigable Waters (2009)
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) The Battle For Oil and Water (July 13, 2007)
- CERES New Report Report Warns Businesses About Growing Water Scarcity From Climate Change, February 2009
- International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) Water Resource Management in the Petroleum Industry (2005)
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Dr. Peter Gleick and Meena Palaniappan Peak Water Limits to Freshwater Withdrawal and Use (April 2010)
- Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) On The Verge of New Water Scarcity: A Call for Governance and Human Ingenuity (March 2007)
Academia
- Illinois Humanities Council All’s Fair in Oil and Water: Conflicts, Compromises, and Compacts – Web Resources Data Base
- Pacific Institute Peak Water Talk: Keynote Address, Utah American Planning Association Annual Conference (November 6, 2008)
- Pacific Institute: Dr. Peter Gleick and Meena Palaniappan Peak Water Chapter from “The World’s Water” (2008-2009)
- Texas A&M University, Global Petroleum Institute, Texas Water Resources Institute – David B. Burnett Potential for Beneficial Use of Oil and Gas Produced Water
- Texas A&M University, Global Petroleum Institute, Texas Water Resources Institute – David B. Burnett Potential for Beneficial Use of Oil and Gas Produced Water
- Washburn Law Journal – Professor Robert E. Southern Illinois University Law School. Oil and Gas Development and Production: Will Water Control What Energy We Have? (Volume 49, May 2010)
- Western Colorado Congress, Western Resource Advocates, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), The Wilderness Society, Wilderness Workshop Oil Shale Development Will Threaten Water Supplies: BLM & Industry Need to Make Full Water Impacts Public (June 2007)
