International Energy Resources And Prices - 1259 Words

1. In what ways is OPEC important, and not so important, in terms of international energy resources and prices? In the panorama of international relations, the absence of universal or potentially universal institution dealing with energy is notable. Established in 1960, OPEC’s original trigger was the continuing slide in posted prices, which at the time were unilaterally established by the International Oil Companies. It is frequently maintained that OPEC is a cartel that has the power to effectively limit its members’ oil production and exports and thus influence oil prices. However, this representation is way off the mark, and grossly exaggerates OPEC’s cohesion and influence. In actual fact, OPEC is more akin to a club whose members†¦show more content†¦By that, the major pro will be a cleaner air and better quality, reducing the number of deaths caused by poor quality air. The con of fracking for health problems is that air quality dynamics around fracking operations are not fully understood. Similarly, fracking is known for its low water intensity compared to fuels and nuclear, which use up to 10 times more water than fracking (per energy unit). However, the con is the intrusive presence of fracking within the environment where it is implemented: noise, heavy infrastructures etc. In addition, fracking raises the question of greenhouse gas leaks. The major pro of hydraulic fracturing here is the gigantic benefit of release of green house emission: it is commonly believed that natural gas produces only about 50% of the greenhouse gas emission compared with burning of coal. On the other hand, researches have showed that big quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, have leaked from fracking. The third important point linked to hydraulic fracturing concerns drinking water and shallow aquifers. The major pro raised in that question is the reliability of fracking operations and infrastructures: drinking water is situated at different level than oil or gas which means that with an efficient good quality piping system, contaminating drinking water supplies is very unlikely. However, this particular point has revealed to be a