Labor demand shocks and earnings and employment differentials: Evidence from the U.S. shale oil & gas boom

ABSTRACT As a Federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Minerals Management Service (MMS) maintains a leasing program for commercial oil and gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Oil and gas activities in deep water (areas deeper than 340 meters) have proceeded at an unprecedented rate, and have led to concerns regarding the accidental release of oil near the seafloor. As production increases, the potential for an oil/gas spill increases. In addition to the environmental impacts of the oil spilled, major concerns from a deepwater oil/gas spill include fire, toxic hazard to the people working on the surface installations, and loss of buoyancy by ships and any floating installations. Oil and natural gas releases in deep water behave much differently than in shallow water, primarily due to density stratification, high pressures, and low temperatures. It is important to know whether oil will surface and if so, where, when, and how thick the oil slick will be. To meet these new challenges, spill response plans need to be upgraded. An important component of such a plan would be a model to simulate the behavior of oil and gasses accidentally released in deep water. This has significant implications for environmental impact assessment, oil-spill cleanup, contingency planning, and source tracing. The MMS uses the Clarkson Deepwater Oil and Gas Blowout (CDOG) plume model to simulate the behavior of oil and gas accidentally released in deepwater areas. The CDOG model is a near field model. In addition, MMS uses an adaptation of the Princeton Ocean Model called the Princeton Regional Ocean Forecast and Hindcast System for the Gulf of Mexico (PROFS-GOM). This model is a far field model and is employed to provide three dimensional current, temperature, and salinity data to the CDOG model. The PROFS-GOM model and the CDOG model are used to simulate deepwater oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Modeling results indicate that the two models can provide important information on the behavior of oil spills in deepwater and assist MMS in estimating the associated environmental risks. Ultimately, this information will be used in the pertinent environmental impact assessments MMS performs and in the development of deepwater oil-spill response plans.

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The Maquiladora Industry: Recent Downturn And Future Prospects

International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER) ◽

10.19030/iber.v8i3.3114 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Javad Gorjidooz ◽

Bijan Vasigh

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Economic Growth ◽

Business Cycle ◽

Labor Demand ◽

The United States ◽

Global Competition ◽

Bracero Program ◽

Major Player ◽

The Business Cycle ◽

The U.S

The Maquiladora industry was created in the mid-1960 as the United States terminated the Bracero program. The main objective of the Bracero program was to bring in Mexican workers to fulfill U.S. agricultural labor demand. The end of the Bracero program left thousands of unemployed farm workers in Mexican cities bordering the U.S. The Maquiladora programs intent was to subsidize foreign manufacturers that set up plants on the Mexico side of the border to create jobs for the Mexican workers. Mexico allowed plants to temporarily import supplies, parts, machinery, and equipment necessary to produce goods and services in Mexico duty-free as long as the output was exported back to the United States. U.S. firms, as well as other multinational companies, responded enthusiastically to the lure of cheap labor. Mexico experienced high economic growth and become a major player in exporting intra-industry products to the U.S. The NAFTA and other free trade agreements signed by Mexico helped the economic growth of the Maquiladora region. Maquiladora employment increased significantly since the inception of the Maquiladora industry and Maquiladora exports now account for half of Mexicos total exports. The Maquiladora industry is U.S.-demand driven since most of Mexicos Maquiladora production is destined for the U.S. market. The recent recession in the U.S. took a heavy toll on Mexicos Maquiladora industry. Another challenge to the Maquiladora industry is raising global competition, particularly from China. Therefore, the magnitude of the industrys contraction during the most recent recession suggests that there are more factors influencing the industry than just the business cycle. This paper presents the creation of the Maquiladora industry, its success following the NAFTA agreement, and its recent downturn. It also explores the answers to the following questions: How much of the Maquiladora downturn was due to the business cycle? How much was due to structural change? Is the Maquiladora industry ready to face rising global competition?

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Reviews of Brown Dense Shale Oil/Gas System of the Lower Smackover Formation in North Louisiana, U.S.A.

Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers ◽

10.12972/ksmer.2014.51.5.729 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 51 (5) ◽

pp. 729-749

Author(s):

Jaehong Ko

Keyword(s):

Shale Oil ◽

Smackover Formation ◽

Gas System ◽

Oil Gas ◽

North Louisiana

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Design and Implementation of Experimental System for Comprehensive Utilization of Oil Shale

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.550-553.2883 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 550-553 ◽

pp. 2883-2886

Author(s):

Bao Min Sun ◽

Gong Wang ◽

Yu Miao ◽

Shao Hua Li

Keyword(s):

Oil Recovery ◽

Oil Shale ◽

Experimental System ◽

Shale Oil ◽

Single Model ◽

Operation Condition ◽

Comprehensive Utilization ◽

Recovery System ◽

Shale Ash ◽

Oil Gas

The single model of oil shale development, which is, burning in boiler for power generation and distillation for shale oil, may cause enormous waste of oil-gas resources and semi-coke. For energy conservation and efficiency improvement, it is necessary to realize the comprehensive utilization of oil shale. The development of experimental system is foundation of further studying. In the paper, an experimental system for comprehensive utilization of oil shale is designed and realized. These includes: spouted bed combustor and shale ash collection system, oil shale retort with solid heat carrier and shale oil recovery system. With the system, the realistic simulation under different condition such as different kinds of oil shale, operation condition can be studied. This work lays an experimental foundation for the further study of comprehensive utilization of oil shale.

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