Crude Oil Transport System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Crude Oil Transport System - Essay Example Size is not everything, so the physical character of bulk goods is not the only factor that controls how it is transported. Whilst both definitions describe identical goods and commodities (crude oil, grain, iron ore, coal, automobiles), the first focuses on how these are handled and transported, and the second highlights the economic goal of bringing down costs with properly designed systems that transport the goods from the source to its destination. Bulk goods can be reclassified (Stopford, 1997) according to their physical state, liquid (crude oil) or dry (major bulks like iron ore, minor bulks like forest products), or how they are handled (liquid, homogeneous, unit load, wheeled, and refrigerated). This definition closely associates bulk goods with the type of ship used to transport them. The second definition (economics) considers sea transport and handling of bulk goods as only one part of the transport system supply chain that extends from the extraction of the raw materials, their storage before, during, and after sea transport, and delivery to a location for processing (as in a crude oil refinery) or sale (to other buyers of crude oil). This paper focuses on the Crude Oil Transport System for three reasons the author finds interesting: first, amongst all the bulk goods, international trade in crude oil is the largest in terms of volume, value, and shipping capacity; second, the global transport system is entirely dependent on the crude oil transport system (Greene, 2005); and third, crude oil has unique economic, social, and political factors worth discussing. Â