This is one of a Series of Volumes on Oceanography. It is designed so that it can be read on its own, like any other textbook, or studied as part of S330 Oceanography, a third level course for Open University students. The science of oceanography as a whole is multidisciplinary. However, different aspects fall naturally within the scope of one or other of the major ‘traditional1 disciplines.

In the application of potential fields in regional investigations, the gravimetric method solves the problems of the study of regional geological constitution, with better results for the folded belts. Regional studies that make use of gravimetric surveys also permit detailing the main tectonic features such as faults and other alignments, with which various mineral and energy resources are linked.

This handbook is has been compiled to give readers with an interested in the oil and gas production industry an overview of the main processes and equipment. When I started to search for a suitable introduction to be used for new engineers, I discovered that much of this equipment is described in standards, equipment manuals and project documentation. But little material was found to quickly give the reader an overview of the entire upstream area, while still preserving enough detail to let the engineer get an appreciation of the main characteristics and design issues.

This book looks at developments in oil shale which is the largest untapped domestic resource with the greatest potential to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Over 70% of the world‘s oil shale resources occur in the United States. These deposits contain over 1.5 trillion barrels of shale oil. If only 800 billion of this can be recovered, that alone would supply all of our current domestic petroleum needs for the next 100 years or more. The 2005 Energy Security Act demonstrated that the US government might finally encourage the development of these valuable oil shale resources. The nation‘s production of crude oil has been declining since the 1970s while its demand has continued to increase, making the country increasingly dependent on imported oil. However, there are lingering questions about our ability to produce shale oil in this country. Most of these questions discussed in this book, center on key issues such as: (1) is the technology available and will it work on a large scale?; (2) can shale oil be produced profitably?; (3) can shale oil be produced in an environmentally responsible manner?; and (4) what are the socio-economic impacts going to be on the local regions where these developments occur? Oil shale requires an expensive, high-risk, long-lead-time development program and the federal government controls most of the resource. They will therefore ultimately determine whether or not shale oil is ever produced at a level sufficient to improve our economic and national security. <...>