A Mineral Store/zonse
12 5
collected as a result of the way of life of an animal or plant. This is
particularly true of the accumulation of pesticides in shell sh.
Although the concentrations of various chemicals involved can be
remarkably high—some ‘sea squirts’ (sac—like sedentary animals)
can build up
stores of vanadium 280,000 times as concentrated as
that in the surrounding sea—it is very improbable that such
creatures could be used directly as means of collecting minerals
from the sea. On the other hand, it is worth remembering that, in
the past, seaweeds were the major source of iodine and that today
an important source of calcium carbonate in some areas are shell
deposits built up by million upon million of molluscs.
Minerais in perspective
In 1965 the Shell Oil Company held a day—long conference in
London on the rapidly—expanding search for oil and natural gas in
the British sector of the North Sea continental shelf. In the press kit
supplied for the occasion were two small slips of paper containing
some very signicant information. One sheet headed, Hard nis
for winners, explained that the discovery of oil or natural gas was
only the beginning; to develop an oil eld can take seven years and
cost up to {3 5 million or £13,700 per day on top of the original
outlay. The other sheet, entitled Harn’fncts for lasers, pointed out
that a company can spend from {3 million to £30 million on
geological and geophysical surveys and drilling test-wells without
deriving any income from the work. Even so, few companies opt
out of the marine oil search so that new areas must be explored. A
preliminary survey alone might cost some {3 million.
Three years after that conference, journalists were starting to
report on the winners. ln March 1968 a consortium of companies
headed by Phillips Petroleum of the United States made the rst
commercial agreement with the British Gas Council on the price
to be paid for natural gas from a North Sea eld—at Hewett Bank,
twenty miles off the east coast of England. Accompanied by a storm
of protest from other consortia operating in the North Sea, the
Phillips group agreed to et gure of 2-87d per therm (the amount of
heat generated by 100 cubic feet of North Sea gas)——a price at least
0- 5 pence lower than that advocated by the other oil groups.
ln spite
of the low price, Phillips, with an estimated outlay of about £25
million to develop the eld, can probably expect an income of about
£259 million over twenty—ve years from 1969—a 900 per
cent
12 5
collected as a result of the way of life of an animal or plant. This is
particularly true of the accumulation of pesticides in shell sh.
Although the concentrations of various chemicals involved can be
remarkably high—some ‘sea squirts’ (sac—like sedentary animals)
can build up
stores of vanadium 280,000 times as concentrated as
that in the surrounding sea—it is very improbable that such
creatures could be used directly as means of collecting minerals
from the sea. On the other hand, it is worth remembering that, in
the past, seaweeds were the major source of iodine and that today
an important source of calcium carbonate in some areas are shell
deposits built up by million upon million of molluscs.
Minerais in perspective
In 1965 the Shell Oil Company held a day—long conference in
London on the rapidly—expanding search for oil and natural gas in
the British sector of the North Sea continental shelf. In the press kit
supplied for the occasion were two small slips of paper containing
some very signicant information. One sheet headed, Hard nis
for winners, explained that the discovery of oil or natural gas was
only the beginning; to develop an oil eld can take seven years and
cost up to {3 5 million or £13,700 per day on top of the original
outlay. The other sheet, entitled Harn’fncts for lasers, pointed out
that a company can spend from {3 million to £30 million on
geological and geophysical surveys and drilling test-wells without
deriving any income from the work. Even so, few companies opt
out of the marine oil search so that new areas must be explored. A
preliminary survey alone might cost some {3 million.
Three years after that conference, journalists were starting to
report on the winners. ln March 1968 a consortium of companies
headed by Phillips Petroleum of the United States made the rst
commercial agreement with the British Gas Council on the price
to be paid for natural gas from a North Sea eld—at Hewett Bank,
twenty miles off the east coast of England. Accompanied by a storm
of protest from other consortia operating in the North Sea, the
Phillips group agreed to et gure of 2-87d per therm (the amount of
heat generated by 100 cubic feet of North Sea gas)——a price at least
0- 5 pence lower than that advocated by the other oil groups.
ln spite
of the low price, Phillips, with an estimated outlay of about £25
million to develop the eld, can probably expect an income of about
£259 million over twenty—ve years from 1969—a 900 per
cent