Posts Tagged Industry
Crude Oil Industry
Posted by admin in Business, business news, industry analysis, International Business, Investing, Job Search Techniques, oil industry, Real Estate on October 18, 2011
Importance of crude came into dominance only in the 20th century wherein a wide number of jobs in a more civilized world became dependent on oil. History of crude has followed places where it has been discovered and resulted in changing the economic paradigm of these regions forever.
It was first in the mid 19th century when in the region of Pennsylvania crude was discovered for the first time. It was during this time the marketing pundits of that era began speculating on how big this discovery could mean to mankind. On the other hand there was also a school of thought which not gave much importance to it. As a result of these two opposite point of views the prices of crude began to swing up and down. Many of you would be surprised to know that way back in January 1861 soon after crude had been discovered it was being sold at $ 10 a barrel. Within no time crude had the honour of becoming the most precious commodity of that time. Beyond belief for many in less than 12 months time crude was selling at 10 cents per barrel. It would be fair to comment here that Crude was born with volatility as its second name and always had powers to make or break fortunes for business community.
Crude would have only gained importance as it has today if we would have solved the code to transport it. In the earlier days barrels made of oak wood were used to transport this fuel. As at times crude prices would become so low that cost of oak barrels would be often more than that of oil inside them. By 1866 pipelines made from wood carved out and used to transport oil to the rail tanks. The rail tanks would transport oil to nearest refinery which came up in Cleveland, Ohio.
Further discoveries of oil were scattered in the region and had requirement to be transported from the oil fields to the refinery. Soon few business men got associated with the logistics part of it. Further to their liking they realized key to success in the oil business was logistics as it directly had major impact of the costs. A network of pipelines and rail wagons were developed in their region making it relatively easier to transport oil from the oil fields to the refinery. Cleveland developed as a major oil refining hub in the region.
People who had most of the influence over oil were now the businessmen involved in logistics. Once such establishment, ‘Standard Oil Company’ rose from being a logistical service provider to controlling almost 80% of American Oil business. Three incidents in early part of 20th century also led to major historical changes in crude industry, they were:
1. Texas Oil (Texaco) came into picture in 1901 and eventually became a big player along with ‘Gulf’.
2. Anti-trust legislation was used by United States government to break up Standard Oil Company in 1911.
3. World war in 1914 highlighted the importance of crude as it become vital for winning wars.
Hope above has provided you with a brief on historical perspective of crude oil.
Analytics of Russian Oil Industry
Posted by admin in Business, business news, Careers Employment, city of industry, Futures and Commodities, Hybrid Energy Efficient, industry analysis, International Business, Investing, the industry on October 12, 2011
For Russia oil has the vital value, being the basic source of export with the other source of raw materials. Tax payments of the oil companies remain one of the basic sources of replenishment of a profitable part of the budget. The Russian economy strongly depends on “the oil” price, and this tendency doesn’t manage to be broken yet.
Export of energy carriers – oil and gas – brings more than the third of the incomes of the state, the minister of economy G. Gref has recently directly declared that the high world prices for power resources have provided 5,4 % of the general gain of the growth of the national product, that is three quarters of the annual growth. Budget planning is carried out from year to year taking into account the price for oil.
The Russian oil branch is the key for the Russian economy. It swings so much, how can, and, using an excellent conjuncture of the world raw markets, in process of forces tries to intensify this process. So, in 2010 it has been extracted 494 million tons of oil that is on 2.5 % more than in 2009.
The oil recovery volume in Russia will exceed the results of 500 million tons of the current year and seriously won’t change in 2011–2012. Such forecast was announced today to journalists by Minister of Energy Sergey Shmatko.
“We consider that this year extraction will exceed 500 million tons, and I do not think that the volume will essentially change the next years”, – has underlined S. Shmatko.
Russia which is not a member of the OPEC, has moved on oil recovery volumes on the first place, and on export volumes on the second place after Saudi Arabia. It is the major supplier of oil abreast the European countries, in particular to Germany. In oil branch of Russia some concerns dominate.
Into a holder of leaders oil the companies of Russia enters: Rosneft, Lukoil, the multinational corporation-BP, follow them to the company Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Oil.
Canada’s Mining Industry May Be Set for a Boom
Posted by admin in Business, business news, Careers Employment, city of industry, Real Estate, the industry on October 7, 2011
Canada, a country of 34 million people, has a vibrant mining industry with more than 1400 companies listed on their Stock Exchange and active in the sector. The growing demand from highly industrialized nations for raw materials, especially from Asia, is having a significant effect on the Canadian mining industry despite the setbacks of the global recession in 2008-9. The country is now firmly established as a global leader in the production of metals and minerals, it is the leading supplier of uranium and potash to world markets. Mining contributes more than $40 billion annually to their economy.
Top mining companies in Canada and their activities
Whether company size is measured in market value, revenue or net assets, these companies are the largest players in Canada in their chosen markets. One of the world’s most successful gold mining companies, Barrick Gold Corporation is active in eight countries and employs more than 20,000 people on 26 mines around the world. Its acquisition of Placer Dome added to its revenues and the high metal prices in its key product lines, gold, copper, silver and zinc, have also impacted profits.
A major contributor to the Canadian economy is the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the world’s largest fertilizer producer. It was in the news last year after a hostile bid from BHP Billiton was foiled by the Canadian Government. Suncor Energy Inc is the leader in oil sands exploration and production. The rising price of oil is having a significant effect on its bottom line. A company to watch is Teck Cominco, often referred to as the “partner of choice” of junior miners. This company is active in most mining sectors, base metals, coal and gold production and is now diversifying into oil sands.
Talent and Remuneration
The shortage of experienced middle managers in the 30-50 age group due to the retirement of the “baby boomers”, those born between 1946 and 1964, is evident in Canada as it is in the rest of the world. The Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MIHRC) says the industry will need an additional labour force of 100,000 people to maintain current levels of production. Although there are initiatives afoot to encourage new entrants the talent gap is widening.
Staff retention should be a key strategy for mining companies. Flexibility in HR policy is needed to allow for movement of professionals across continents, they need to consider personalized solutions for key employees and innovative solutions to rotations to suit family life. Design of relevant incentive programs should be high on their agenda.
The Coopers Consulting-PwC 2011 Mining Industry Salary Survey reports that “CEOs are still riding a wave of high salaries and cash bonuses in 2011.” Their statistics show that 56% (a growing number) of CEO’s have an annual pay package of more than $1m. The PWc report goes on to say that new graduate mining engineers with one to two years of experience can expect an annual package of around $75,000. Young mining professionals are therefore well-placed to launch their careers in Canada.
The volatile global economic climate could well affect the demand for commodities and there is no consensus on the outlook. However, the mining sector in Canada seems robust enough for the moment.