In light of the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the mushrooming whipping BP is taking, I did some hunting around for films on the oil industry. With so much bad-mouthing of the industry giant, I’ve got reputation risk on my mind. Aside the fact that eleven men were killed in the platform explosion, and an unprecedented environmental disaster is unfolding, BP is going to have a lot of scrubbing to do in order to remove the tarnish from their name.

Of course, BP’s not the only oil giant who’s gone through this. Exxon famously had to clean up in more than one way after the Valdez oil spill in 1989. And Chevron’s fighting a class action lawsuit in Ecuador, where 30,000 citizens allege Chevron has been polluting the Amazon basin for decades.

This risk management stuff doesn’t always have to be so heady though. Sure we can ruminate on the latest data from the EIA, and we are sure to check the latest news over on Bloomberg and CNBC. But learning can be entertaining as well. Savvy energy risk managers enjoy a good film now and again. Here, then, are some films on the oil industry that are sure to raise some questions and eyebrows, as well as inform. For your weekend, check out some of these films.

Crude (2009)
Chevron is not too happy with this film. Indeed, today it was announced that a court order has been issued to the filmmaker, Joseph Berlinger, to handover 600 hours of unreleased, raw footage to the oil giant. Here’s the official site for the film.

Here's a piece from 60 Minutes on the issue.




Crude Independence (2009)

Here’s a small, independent film on a tiny corner of the world (Stanley, South Dakota), where oil plays a big part in the lives of the people who live on top of the reserve. What happens when your town get hits with an oil boom?

Crude Impact (2006) official site

The Black Wave (2008)

This one's about the Exxon Valdez spill. BP, take note! Official site.

Posted by Shaun Randol at 4:22 PM