Oil
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Oil consists of various hydrocarbons. It is produced by the anaerobic decay of organic material under the surface of the earth. Both oil and gas can be extracted by drilling, they are lighter than water and they tend to rise from their sources when released from their underground pockets. Petroleum is mostly used for producing fuel oil and petrol. The burning of oil releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Extraction of oil is costly and environmentally damaging. The top petroleum-producing countries are Saudi-Arabia, Russia, the United States and Iran.
Photo: Ruth Astrid Saeter
Photo: Anne Karin Saether/Bellona
A roundtable discussion organised by the German Marshall Fund of the US (GMF) was held in Brussels last week. The roundtable discussed Russian coal production in the context of Dmitry Medvedev’s, President of the Russian Federation, announcement in November 2009 that Russia was looking to expand its coal-fired energy production by 26% in time for 2030 to meet rising domestic energy demands. A recent paper commissioned by the GMF finds that such demands could be met more cost-effectively through increased energy efficiency measures.
According Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, the Arctic zone could contain as much as 25 percent of the world’s untapped oil reserves, RosEnergy newswire reported
The Russian Duma has created a group focusing on the environmental problems of Russia’s far in response to the boomtown rush to tap the areas vast natural resources, specifically oil and gas, Russian media reported.
