The Energy Outlook Report of France - Coursework Example

Download file to see previous pages France is one of those countries of Europe which have considerable fossil fuel resources of their own and is believed to have 159 billion barrels of oil reserves according to recent estimates. The industrial growth in France has made it one of the largest consumers of crude oil in the world. The various refineries in the country produced more than 90000 barrels per day of oil in the year 2009. During the year 2010, France imported 35.319 billion dollars worth of oil and the major exporters of oil to France include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Remarkable developments have been achieved in the field of nuclear power in the past 30 years and this has helped in considerably reducing oil imports.
The Paris and Aquitaine Basins are accounted to contain the major portion of the oil produced by France and the largest field in the country is at the southwest region of Biscarrosse with a production capacity of 2850 bbl/d. The production of oil has diminished over the course of years, mainly because of the promotion of nuclear energy in the country. France does not have substantial oil production of its own, however, French oil producing companies are leading producers of refined oil in the world with refineries and production chains operating in various regions of the world, particularly in Africa, Middle East, and Europe. In the year 2000 three of the largest oil producing companies of the world; Elf Aquitaine and Total of France and Petrofina of Belgium, merged together to form TotalFinaElf which is commonly known with the brand name of Total and became one of the top 3 oil producing companies of the world. Gonfreville l’Orcher refining facility of Total is the largest oil refinery in France with a refining capacity of 331000 bbl/d and accounts for 55 percent of the total oil refined in France.
Along with remarkable advancement in the industry, France has also developed its infrastructure and roads with an extensive road transportation network throughout the country. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More