Most of us know that the gasoline that powers our cars comes from oil. Few are aware, however, of how many other things get their start from a barrel of oil. Everyday things, from synthetic fabrics we wear year-round to medicines that make us feel better to fertilizer to help our garden grow – and just about every toy children play with.
From the time your digital clock alarm rings in the morning to the time you turn in for the night, oil touches your life in ways you may never have imagined. Thousands of products – from your toothpaste to your telephone, your credit cards to your computer, and your vitamins to your shampoo – all got their start from oil. Understanding how much life there is in a barrel of oil helps us discover how our nation’s oil and natural gas industry keeps America going strong.
The oil industry is a steward of the environment. Between 1995 and 2004, the U.S. oil and natural gas industry spent about $188 billion to protect the nation’s environment. This amounts to $299 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. Thanks to directional drilling, slimhole rigs and other technological advances, oil can be found with less disturbance to wetlands and other sensitive environments. They continue to spend billions of dollars a year to find ways to better protect our planet for our future generations. This doesn't even go into their other charitable giving our the man hours they encourage their employees to spend through volunteerism.
Oil has a second life. Two gallons of recycled used oil can generate enough electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours, cook 48 meals in a microwave oven, blow dry hair 216 times, vacuum a house for 15 months or run a TV set for 180 hours. Motor oil doesn’t wear out – it just gets dirty. The oil you take to a collection center to be recycled can be reprocessed and used in furnaces for heat, used in power plants to generate electricity, and re refined into lubricating oils that meet the same specifications as virgin motor oil. For more information, visit www.recycleoil.org.
Oil products are cleaner. The natural gas and oil industry is advancing cleaner fuels to provide consumers with lower-carbon options. Our abundant supply of natural gas already has helped the U.S. achieve meaningful emissions reductions and will continue into the future. Over the past decade, electricity generation has been the primary source of demand growth for domestically produced natural gas. According to the EIA, natural gas demand in the power sector increased more than 110% between 2007 and 2019, and natural gas is now by far the largest source of power generation in the U.S., responsible for nearly 40% of total generation in 2020.
The concurrent fuel-switching from coal to natural gas in the power sector has been the leading driver of emissions reductions in the United States, a trend further aided by a significant increase in deployment of wind and solar. The continued availability of low-cost U.S. natural gas combined with a strong export policy – especially as it pertains to liquefied natural gas (LNG) – presents an opportunity to achieve continued success in emissions reductions around the world. According to the IEA, in 2018, coal to gas switching avoided 95 megatons of CO2 emissions globally.
Our reliance on petrochemicals doesn't make us evil, earth destroying, monsters. In transportation, today’s automobiles are 99% cleaner than they were in 1970, and modern internal combustion engine vehicles help reduce real-world emissions per mile traveled on a fleet average basis. Own an electric vehicle! That is great! But consider all the petrochemicals that go into making that car. I'm a supporter of cleaner energy. We need to be focusing on natural gas, nuclear power, and the advancement of solar and wind power. However, it takes time to make scientific advancements. We are here to be good stewards of the Earth and use the resources it gives.
If it weren’t for petrochemicals, you could kiss lipstick goodbye. A barrel of oil does a lot more than simply provide fuel for our cars and trucks, keep our homes and offices comfortable, and power our industries. Oil is a key ingredient in making thousands of products that make our lives easier – and in many cases – help us live better and longer lives. From lipstick to aspirin and diapers to roller blades, petrochemicals play a vital part. Here are just a few of the over 6,000 examples...
Antihistamines
Antiseptics
Artificial Hearts
Aspirin
Audiocassettes
Baby Strollers
Balloons
Bandages
Blenders
Cameras
Candles
CD Players
Clothing
Compact Discs
Computers
Containers
Crayons
Credit Cards
Dentures
Deodorant
Diapers
Digital Clocks
Dinnerware
DVDs
Dyes
Eyeglass Frames
Fertilizers
Food Preservatives
Food Storage Bags
Footballs
Foul Weather Gear
Furniture
Garbage Bags
Glue
Golf Balls
Hair Dryers
Hang Gliders
Heart Valve Replacements
House Paint
Infant Seats
Ink
Insecticides
Life Jackets
Lipstick
Luggage
Medical Equipment
Nylon Rope
Pacemakers
Pantyhose
Patio Screens
Perfumes
Photographic Film
Photographs
Piano Keys
Roller Blades
Roofing
Safety Glass
Shampoo
Shaving Cream
Shower Curtains
Slippers
Soft Contact Lenses
Sunglasses
Surfboards
Surgical Equipment
Syringes
Telephones
Tents
Toothpaste
Toys
Umbrellas
Vitamin Capsules
Oil companies don’t make as much as you’d think off a gallon of gasoline. Did you know that oil companies only make 4% off the cost of a gallon of gasoline? The average price of gas in this country is $3.30 per gallon. That would mean that the big bad oil companies make $0.09 on every gallon of gasoline you buy. What people don’t realize is that it is their government that is causing the price of gasoline to be so high. In California the amount of tax on a gallon of gasoline is $1.18 per gallon. That is over 12 times what the oil companies take.
If the government really cared about the rising price of gasoline you’d think they could cut the tax on it. In fact, that is an idea Senator John McCain continued to promote during his entire career. (Not that I was a supporter of McCain.) It is nice to see that there are some people out there who realize where we could make some tax breaks and stop stealing money from Americans.
There is always talk about the big profits that oil companies make. But what are they doing with that money? When it comes to natural gas and oil production, the US is one of the world’s leading countries. But, how many Americans work in the oil industry? An API study from 2017 revealed that the industry supported a whopping 10.3 million US jobs. According to the study, the occupations sustained by this industry have seen an increase of 500,000 new employees since 2011. (That doesn’t count foreign oil companies who have employees all over the world)
Joe Biden’s administration has proposed introducing a clean-energy plan that would cause the disappearance of all the oil and gas sector’s employment in our country, an equivalent of 6.5% of the US’s total jobs.
The government doesn’t bail out oil companies who are suffering financially. (Unlike how it helps financial institutions like Bear Stearns.) After 1980, reduced demand and overproduction produced a glut on the world market causing a six-year-long decline in oil prices. This culminated with a 46 percent price drop in 1986. Jobs in the market were hard to come by and oil companies had to make many, many cutbacks. This is still fresh in the minds of those who worked in the industry at that time. When they aren't using their money to pay the salaries of their employees, or using that profit to pump money into environmental causes, including focusing on cleaner energy, they are storing their money away. Why? They are preparing for the when they fall on hard times. Being smart, and not wanting that to happen again, they are saving away money for a rainy day. As a side note, the government shouldn't be bailing out any company.
The bottom line is we live a world that currently depends on the petrochemical industry. So the next time you meet someone who works for an oil company, don’t sneer and make a rude remark. Be thankful for all of the plastic products, energy, charitable donations and jobs that they help provide. Whether you like it or not you can’t live without oil, so make the best of it. Let your elected officials know they should cut some of the taxes on gasoline, because we all could use the financial break!
Finally, the best thing we could do for our future is to encourage our youth to study the sciences and continue to be good stewards of this beautiful planet God gave us. Raise your children to be fascinated by science, technology, and math. Don't glorify sports and entertainment stars. Science can be so fun for kids. I know this firsthand as I make constant (very easy) efforts to spark the curiosity and imaginations of my nephew and niece. I promise you that it is just as fun for me as it is for them!
Keep thinking of what we owe the future and what you can do about it, because if you truly appreciate something, you take care of it.
Comments