Petroleum in the Marine Environment
Impact of Extraction, Transportation, and Consumption
There is little argument that liquid petroleum (crude oil and the products refined from it) plays a pervasive role in modern society. As recently as the late 1990s, the average price of a barrel of crude oil was less than that of a take-out dinner. Yet a fluctuation of 20 or 30 percent in that price can influence automotive sales, holiday travel decisions, interest rates, stock market trends, and the gross national product of industrialized nations, whether they are net exporters or importers of crude oil. A quick examination of world history over the last century would reveal the fundamental…
