Hadden slide share#1

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OIL, TERRORISM and GLOBALIZATION Sabotage and direct terrorist attacks are raising the price of a barrel of oil dramatically.

Transcript of Hadden slide share#1

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OIL, TERRORISM and GLOBALIZATION

Sabotage and direct terrorist attacks are raising the price of a barrel of oil dramatically.

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Article Selection I chose two articles for this presentation:

1.) CNN Money – “Hidden Force Behind Oil’s rise: Sabotage by Terrorists2.) LinkedIn – “The Global Threat of Terrorism Targeting Oil and Gas Industries.

I chose the oil industry because my older brother works for BP as a Ballast Control Engineer on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which led me to considering the same line of work. But also because of the ties to terrorism which have interested me since enlisting in the U.S. Army

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Article Summary• The CNN article focuses on the connection between the rising price of a barrel of oil

and the time of a terrorist attack. It also lists some of the top oil-producing regions that are struggling with security challenges at their oil production and processing facilities.

• The second article from LinkedIn deals with the threat itself. It talks about a number of diverse threats including physical security at oil installations but also cyber attacks. It also gives a break down of attacks from the 1990s to 2013 as well as the weaknesses at these installations.

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OIL PRICE – A Global Factor

According to the CNN Money article “Oil prices have rallied recently to around $40 today from $26 a barrel in mid-February.”

The article also mentions that the price could be contributed to freeze oil output by several countries. But it also points out that “geo-political jitters” are “playing an important role”

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OIL PRICE – A Global Factor (cont.)

Being that oil is a global commodity and thus its price fluctuation impacts everything from a countries national strategy, down to the farmer simply trying to fill the tank on his combine, communication is key. Who is producing what? How much is being produced? Where is their production going? If I work for BP, or Shell, or Marathon, how do I communicate with someone from the U.S, or Russia, or Iraq? And quite possibly the most important communication aspect…Who does someone talk to in regards to security of the oil?

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Oil and GlobalizationThis ties into globalization in a number of ways.

Organizational communication can help facilitate relationships between nations and multi-national corporations, down to communications within and to each of their employees. These include messages, relationships, as well as systems of understanding.

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OIL and GLOBALIZATIONWe live in a new, exciting, and changing world. Technology has literally brought the world closer together. Transportation has exploded thanks to technological advancements. Corporations have planes, trains, cars, helicopters, and quite possibly in the near future…space faring vehicles. We have satellites, telecommunication systems, email, social media, and smart phones. All of this has brought us closer together than ever before. A corporation can have a video conference with eight different poeple located at eight different parts of the globe! Decisions can be made, implemented and carried out within hours of receiving instructions. All of this comes into play when talking about the oil industry. Organizational communication is key in what can truly be considered a global undertaking.

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Communication in the 21st Century

A corporation can have a video conference with eight different poeple located at eight different parts of the globe! Decisions can be made, implemented and carried out within hours of receiving instructions. All of this comes into play when talking about the oil industry. Organizational communication is key in what can truly be considered a global undertaking.

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Global UndertakingCommunication is an incredibly important part to this industry. This can be broken up into five key phases:

1. Exploration – Corporations send teams of geologists and geophysicists to search beneath the Earth’s service for oil and natural gas deposits. They travel all over the world and must be in constant communication. They use satellites, helicopters, ships etc. Each individual unit must communicate effectively.

2. Extraction – Once a site is located, extraction begins. This is normally done by drilling into the ground and “tapping” the reservoir.

3. Refining – After the oil is pumped from beneath the surface it is sent to an industrial processing plant. There it is refined into the many products we use (ex. Fuels, lubricating oils, asphalt, etc.)

4. Transportation – This is done through oil tankers, pipelines, and tanker trucks. Thousands of ships and trucks, and miles of pipelines put the oil where it needs to go. All of this requires communication, intricate systems to track the flow, and standards of how, when, and where it all comes together.

5. Marketing – Finally, the product is sold. But where does it go? Who gets it? How much does it cost? All of these questions must be answered, and organized communication between the exploration teams, drilling teams, refining plants, and transportation is the only way to safeguard against any number of catastrophes and shortages.

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Oil and TerrorismIn the article from CNN Money, they highlight four nations that struggle with security and give an example of an attack within that country.

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Nigeria “an explosion on an

underwater pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell”

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that at least “250,000 barrels of oil per day” were disrupted by the attack.

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Iraq Regular sabotage has

caused a decline “by as much as 320,000 barrels per day”

Because of repeated attacks, revenue per month has gone from $650 million in January to $233 million in February.

While Iraq continues to struggle with ISIS, oil production has fallen by “as much as 320,000 barrels per day.

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AlgeriaAl Qaeda attacked a “natural gas field and processing plant”, forcing BP and Statoil to “evacuate employees”

Algeria was also attacked back in 2013 that resulted in “dozens of foreign workers” killed

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Libya

Because of attacks by militants allied to ISIS, only “two of the country’s seven onshore loading terminals are operational.

Because of this, Libya has only managed to pump 360,000 barrels per day. Down considerably from the 1.6 million it has normally produced.

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Security and CommunicationFor this slide I’d like to focus on just one of those countries listed on the previous slide: Iraq.

During a deployment to Iraq in 2010, my Infantry company actually lived at the Baiji Oil Refinery in the Salah ad Din province. Security was obviously a main concern, not only for our small patrol base about the size of two football fields, but also for the refinery itself. We had to consider how the multiple terror cells organized, recruited and communicated to each other. We had to examine what type of communication systems we could use and which of those would work best at discouraging attacks. Everything from phones, sirens, radios, and encrypted radios. We had to deal with Iraqi Police units, Iraqi Army units, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, the U.S. Embassy, and many others. Whether in person and using interpreters, email, or phones there were always a lot of moving parts and many different locations to communicate with. Although we were able to stop many attempts on the refinery, one attack did manage to cripple 70% of production for several months.

Hitting golf balls at some of the Liquid Nitrogen Gas containers at the Refinery.

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Security and Communication (cont.)

Although we were able to stop many attempts on the refinery, one attack did manage to cripple 70% of production for several months.

Getting ready for a patrol with one of the refinery’s flare stacks behind me.

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The Rise of Terror Attacks on the Oil Industry

In the LinkedIn article, it states that terrorist attacks that target gas and oil sectors have “risen sharply”.

During the 1990s attacks on oil installations counted for less than 2.5% of all attacks. In 2013 however, 600 of the 2600 total attacks were on oil and natural gas related installations.

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Best Practices The article also says that one of the best things any Oil and Gas corporation can do

is to establish “proper mechanisms for intelligence and information sharing”

It also states that companies should “cooperate with state agencies in information sharing”.

Sharing of information in order to protect oil facilities is no doubt important, but how do you do it? The obvious answer is communication. Maintaining contact with any number of agencies, talking to each other about threats and precautions. More often than not, this leads to a safer working environment, as well as number of attacks thwarted.

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QuestionsA number of questions arise when you consider organizational communication and how it can assist a global industry with multiple corporations, nations, and millions of people in accomplishing its goal: providing energy for a planet.

1. How can we prevent fear from creeping into our decision-making process? By that I mean being afraid of one another, or of a particular region.

2. How do we utilize new technologies in communication (video conference, satellites, etc.) to ensure a safer work environment for the employees.

3. Lastly, and in my opinion most important: what is the best way to utilize those communication systems, as well as create new ones, that can facilitate more protection for the ones that come after an attack? In other words, the police, fire, and medical, as well as military units that are called upon to assist in injuries, fire suppression, and external security once an attack has taken place.

These three questions, and many more, must all be answered if we are to ensure safer methods of getting oil, and also in minimizing loss of life.

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Works Cited "Terrorists Fueling the Dramatic Rise in Oil Prices." CNNMoney.

Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016. http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/29/investing/oil-prices-terrorists-iraq-nigeria/

Tyagi, SB. "The Global Threat of Terrorism Targeting Oil and Gas Industries." LinkedIn, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/global-threat-terrorism-targeting-oil-gas-industries-sb

Miller, Katherine. Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. 7th ed. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.