An Insightful Guide to Avoiding Offshore Oil- and Gas-Industry Disaster Designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining offshore oil and gas industry equipment and systems can sometimes result in accidents, injuries, and other serious problems. Safety and Reliability in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Practical Approach focuses on oil and gas industry equipment reliability, offers useful and up-to-date information on the subject, and covers in a single volume the most common safety and reliability engineering issues in the oil and gas industry. The book introduces the latest developments in the area, and provides relevant methods and approaches. It also presents important aspects of various case studies on major accidents in the oil and gas industry, and considers human factors that contribute to accidents and fatalities in the area of oil and gas. Additionally, this book describes: Mathematical concepts Oil and gas industry equipment reliability characteristics Accident data and analysis Mathematical models used for performing safety and reliability-related analyses in the industry Safety and Reliability in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Practical Approach covers important aspects of safety in the offshore oil and gas industry. A reference designed with engineering professionals in mind, this book can also be used in oil- and gas-industry-related courses, and serves as a guide for anyone concerned with safety and reliability in the area of oil and gas.

The development of Africa's oil has greatly accelerated in recent years, with some countries looking at the prospect of almost unimaginable flows of money into their national budgets. But the story of African oil has usually been associated with conflict, corruption and disaster, with older producers such as Nigeria having little to show for the many billions of dollars they've earned. In this eye-opening book, former BBC correspondent Celeste Hicks questions the inevitability of the so-called resource curse, revealing what the discovery of oil means for ordinary Africans, and how China's involvement could mean a profound change in Africa's relationship with the West. A much-needed account of an issue that will likely transform the fortunes of a number of African countries - for better or for worse.

This is a major work providing a country-by-country analysis of African oil and gas. The book details the oil and gas frameworks and the key concerns in the most significant jurisdictions including traditional producing countries such as Libya, Algeria, Angola and Egypt, and more recent areas with significant potential such as Sudan. Topics addressed include the key terms of the petroleum laws, the types of legal arrangement in place (eg, concession agreement, production sharing contract or service agreement), the fiscal terms, the acquisition of acreage, governing law, dispute resolution mechanisms and governmental control. Covering 26 countries in total, this book features contributions from a variety of leading experts in the industry, including from ministries of petroleum, national oil companies, international oil companies, law firms and consultancies. This unique new work provides a wider understanding of oil and gas law, contracts and regulations within the African continent.

The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns. This book analyses the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency. Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

In 1984, the oil, chemical and atomic workers began a 5-year campaign to win back the jobs of its members locked out by the BASF Corp. in Geismar, Louisiana. The multiscale campaign involved coalitions with local environmentalists as well as international solidarity from environmental and religious organizations. The local coalition which helped break the lockout was maintained and expanded in the 1990s. This alliance is one of numerous labor-community coalitions to emerge increasingly over the past 20 years.""Labor-Environmental Coalitions: Lessons from a Louisiana Petrochemical Region"" traces the development of the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project from 1985 to the present, within the context of a long history of divisions between labor and community in the U.S. The Project continued after the lockout, thriving during 1990s, expanding from one community to four counties to include 20 local member organizations, and broadening its agenda from the original jobs crisis and pollution problems to address a wide range of worker, environmental health, and economic justice issues."" Labor-Environmental Coalitions"" explores the dynamics of the Louisiana coalition to offer lessons for other coalition efforts. The book seeks to understand coalitions as a necessary strategy to counteract the dominant forces of capitalist development. The author contends that the Labor-Neighbor Project, like labor-community coalitions generally, created a unique blend of politics shaped by the geographic nature industry's politics; by the relative openness of government; and by the class experience of labor and community members.The Louisiana Project demonstrates that for labor-community coalitions to thrive they must broaden their agenda, strengthen their leadership and coalition-building skills, and develop access to multiscale resources. The author argues that for labor-community coalitions to have longer term political impact, they should adopt an explicitly progressive approach by building a broader class and cultural leadership, and by demanding state and corporate accountability on economic, public health, and environmental justice issues.

Vaughn P. Shannon argues that US foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict has been determined at three levels of analysis: that of systemic strategic context, that of domestic politics, and that of individual decision-makers. In this book he explores the role of each level of influence, as well as the implications for the posture which the US has chosen. Reflecting changing circumstances, the volume examines the Cold War, the Gulf War and the new 'War on Terror' and how they have each placed differing pressures on US policymakers as they strive to maintain the ultimate strategic goal of preserving regional oil from becoming dominated by hostile forces. It is suitable for courses on American foreign policy, world politics and politics of the Middle East.

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 and geopolitical risk? -How do you handle issues related to displaced workers? The author applies her considerable experience in the analysis of such Offshore issues as the financial growth of the Offshore industry, keys to success in initiating a program, choosing and managing vendors, risk mitigation, and employee impacts. A detailed program checklist outlines the steps for successful Offshore execution, providing real-world exposure and guidance to a movement that has become a fixture in the IT realm. About the Author Tandy Gold is a 20-year veteran of the technology industry who is focused on entrepreneurial consulting and innovation. As part of her responsibilities in implementing the first Offshore initiative for a large financial institution, she created a monthly Offshore interest group. Comprised of Offshore program managers from Fortune 100 firms, together they represent more than 40 years of experience in Offshore.

While writing his autobiography, Jean Paul Getty - then perhaps the world's richest man - hoped it would be the final verdict on himself, on his many friends and associates, and on his times. Regrettably, it proved to be so: Getty died in 1976 as "As I See It" was going to press. Now reissued with a number of new illustrations, this autobiography introduces the famed tycoon to a new generation of readers. Known largely for his fabled wealth, J. Paul Getty was highly educated, competent in six languages, a world traveller, and a committed collector of art. Getty describes how he amassed his staggering fortune, discusses the prospects of democracy, lists the seven key points success-oriented men should know about women, and recounts undergraduate conversations at Oxford with his good friend "David", the future King Edward of England. The cast of characters who populate his intimate anecdotes reads like a "Who's Who" of the 20th century: Winston Churchill, Clara Bow, Nelson Rockefeller, Bernard Berenson, Bela Lugosi, Jacqueline Onassis, Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charlie Chaplin, and hundreds more. He discusses with frankness his several marriages and liaisons and speaks about his notorious stinginess and the often-bizarre problems confronted by the impossibly wealthy.