The Offshore Imperative

After World War II, the discovery and production of onshore oil in the United States faced decline. As a result, offshore prospects in the Gulf of Mexico took on new strategic value. Shell Oil Company pioneered many of the early moves offshore and continues to lead the way into “deepwater.” Tyler Priest’s study is the first time the modern history of Shell Oil has been told in any detail. Drawing on interviews with Shell retirees and many other sources, Priest relates how the imagination, talent, and hard work of personnel at all levels shaped the evolution of the company. The narrative also covers important aspects of Shell Oil’s corporate evolution, but the company’s pioneering steps into the deepwater fields of the Gulf of Mexico are its signature achievement. Priest’s study demonstrates that engineers did not suddenly create methods for finding and producing oil and gas from astounding water depths. Rather, they built on a half-century of accumulated knowledge and improvements to technical systems. Shell Oil’s story is unique, but it also illuminates the modern history of the petroleum industry. As Priest demonstrates, this company’s experiences offer a starting point for examining the understudied topics of strategic decision-making, scientific research, management of technology, and corporate organization and culture within modern oil companies, as well as how these activities applied to offshore development. “. . . tells a dramatic story of imaginative businessmen and engineers who propelled Shell forward in the search for ways to locate and recover oil from the depths of the sea.”—Southwestern Historical Quarterly “This book’s narrative is sustained throughout by easily understood explanations of the technical details of drilling and production.”—Journal of Southern History

On April 20, 2010, the Macondo well blew out, costing the lives of 11 men, and beginning a catastrophe that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and spilled nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill disrupted an entire region’s economy, damaged fisheries and critical habitats, and brought vividly to light the risks of deepwater drilling for oil and gas—the latest frontier in the national energy supply. Soon after, President Barack Obama appointed a seven-member Commission to investigate the disaster, analyze its causes and effects, and recommend the actions necessary to minimize such risks in the future. The Commission’s report offers the American public and policymakers alike the fullest account available of what happened in the Gulf and why, and proposes actions—changes in company behavior, reform of government oversight, and investments in research and technology—required as industry moves forward to meet the nation’s energy needs.

In Offshore Software Development: Making It Work, hands-on managers of Offshore solutions help you answer these questions: What is Offshore and why is it an IT imperative? What do you need to do to successfully evaluate an Offshore solution? How do you avoid common pitfalls? How do you confront security an

Megan Black argues that the U.S. Department of the Interior, known for managing domestic natural resources and operating public parks, constantly supports and projects American power abroad. In the guise of sharing expertise globally, Interior has helped the U.S. maintain key benefits of empire without the burden of playing the imperialist villain.

Ben Ross Schneider's volume, New Order and Progress takes a thorough look at the political economy of Brazil. The distinctive perspective of the 11 chapters is historical, comparative, and theoretical. Collectively, the chapters offer sobering insight into why Brazil has not been the rising economic star of the BRIC that many predicted it would be, but also documents the gains that Brazil has made toward greater equality and stability. The book is grouped into four parts covering Brazil's development strategy, governance, social change, and political representation. The authors -18 leading experts from Brazil and the United States - analyze core issues in Brazil's evolving political economy, including falling inequality, the new middle class, equalizing federalism, the politicization of the federal bureaucracy, resurgent state capitalism, labor market discrimination, survival of political dynasties, the expansion of suffrage, oil and the resource curse, exchange rates and capital controls, protest movements, and the frayed social contract.

"The explosion that tore through the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig last April 20, as the rig's crew completed drilling the exploratory Macondo well deep under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, began a human, economic, and environmental disaster. Eleven crew members died, and others were seriously injured, as fire engulfed and ultimately destroyed the rig. And, although the nation would not know the full scope of the disaster for weeks, the first of more than four million barrels of oil began gushing uncontrolled into the Gulf--threatening livelihoods, precious habitats, and even a unique way of life. A treasured American landscape, already battered and degraded from years of mismanagement, faced yet another blow as the oil spread and washed ashore. Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the nation was again transfixed, seemingly helpless, as this new tragedy unfolded in the Gulf. The costs from this one industrial accident are not yet fully counted, but it is already clear that the impacts on the region's natural systems and people were enormous, and that economic losses total tens of billions of dollars"--Page vi of online resource.

Praise for the previous edition: "Editors' Choice Reference Source"—Booklist "Best Reference Source"—Library Journal "Runner-up, General Nonfiction category"—Green Book Festival "Top 40 Reference Titles"—Pennsylvania School Librarians Association "A worthwhile reference for high school students and the general public."—Library Journal "...interesting and helpful...will help readers gain an understanding of major concepts, terms, and events in modern pollution studies. Recommended."—Choice "Definitive yet accessible...notable for reliable information on a topic of interest to both undergraduate and lay audiences, merits high recommendation for high-school, public, and academic libraries."—Booklist, starred review "...fascinating..."—Library Journal "...an excellent addition for all academic libraries and large public libraries."—American Reference Books Annual "This accessible and attractive encyclopedia provides depth, variety and currency and would be valuable for most high school collections."—Pennsylvania School Librarians Association "...recommended...an excellent source of background reading."—Reference Reviews Newly updated, the Encyclopedia of Pollution, Revised Edition is a comprehensive reference designed to address all aspects of pollution and the global impact on the environment in a single source. Containing more than 300 entries and essays interspersed throughout, it uses the most current scientific data to explain the different types of pollutants including properties, production, uses, environmental release and fate, adverse health response to exposure, and environmental regulations on human exposure. It provides the scientific background on the water, soil, and air of environments where the pollutants are released. Coverage also includes pollution regulation, the function of federal regulatory agencies and environmental advocacy groups, and the technology and methods to reduce pollution and to remediate existing pollution problems. Numerous case studies explore the most infamous of pollution events such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Gulf War oil well fires, the Chernobyl disaster, Hurricane Katrina, the World Trade Center disaster, and the Love Canal in New York, among many others—including those that had great impact on legislation or that were used in popular media such as the films Erin Brockovich and A Civil Action. Biographies are provided of some of the leaders and pioneers of pollution study and activism. Other useful features include a detailed glossary, a timeline, and tables.