- The Effects of Oil Drilling
http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/cases_03-04/Ogoni/Ogoni_case_study.htm
My first case study references the Nigerian delta and talks about how the drilling of oil has affected the community there. Shell Nigeria and the Nigerian government have been excessively drilling for oil in this community and the Ogoni people who live there have been directly affected. The drilling of oil has caused the threat of oil spills and also the pollution of air and the Niger River Delta where the tribe does a lot of their fishing. The government of Nigeria is using this oil for the development of the country because they are able to sell it as it holds monetary value. However; by doing this they are endangering the community and affecting its development as the quality of life in this area has decreased. The goals of the Ogoni community are to unite with the government and form some kind of agreement that will help aid the community and the government. As the demand for oil increases, so will the demand for Nigerian oil and this are could be of huge profit for them.
- Poverty in Ecuador
http://www.developmentprogress.org/publication/sharing-fruits-progress-poverty-reduction-ecuador
This case study talked about Ecuador and their decreasing rate of poverty. In 2000, about 20% of the population lived in extreme poverty, but only 4% do today! Ecuador has become more economically stable because of the increase in oil prices. In the end, this development helped grow the economy and provide jobs for the some of the poorest people and caused the unemployment rate to decrease. This countries development started from the production of oil. They face many challenges today in maintaining and furthering this development. Their goals are to overcome the decreasing oil prices and advance the progress that they have already made in an economic standpoint. They also want to further reduce poverty. Also, oil will eventually become very scarce and they will have to come up with ways to sustain their economy without the aid of natural resources.
- I currently live in Niles Michigan where oil prices affect everyone’s daily lives. I have always lived in the United States where we import about 20% of our oil. In the two case studies I chose, they both talked about the drilling of oil and the impact that they had on their own community’s. Nigeria and Ecuador have both counted on oil to further their development even though the specific community of Ogoni people in Nigeria saw the bad impact that it could have. The city of Niles was founded on the St. Joseph River, which played an integral part in its development as well as the rich and fertile soil. Farming was a big part of how this community developed. Even though both communities developed in different ways, they both used the land that they were founded on to do this. In Nigeria, the community played a huge role in their development, as they had to come together to protest and make the government aid them. Every community, specifically my hometown, could use this as an example of a way to further their own development.
Hi Peter, my name is Sabrina Hecht and I found your blog post very interesting. Since the impact of oil is such a current and talked about topic it was very easy for me to gain interest in your post. We mostly hear about the lack of oil and where to get it from but instead you focused on the possibility of oil spills which are a huge concern especially in the development of certain countries that do a lot of oil drilling.
I also found it interesting that you talked about the effect that oil prices have on Ecuadorians because it shined a different light for me. The rise in price of the oil brought more stability to their economics; in fact help to grow it. In conclusion making it a good development for Ecuador.
Hey Peter, here’s a link to my blog: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/26/module-5-case-studies-development/
Just a note, you should add the “M05” category so you don’t get points deducted! 🙂
I was actually surprised to see the United States only imports 20% of our oil, I think we might be lead to believe that we get a majority of our oil from middle-eastern countries! There is definitely a lot of good oil can do in sparking development. Natural resources are extremely important to the financial success of a nation or region. This being said, it is hard to justify putting a price tag on pollution and hurting the ecology in an area.