A Case Analysis of BP Russia-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Case Study of British Petroleum in Russia. Answer: Introduction British Petroleum first opened their office in Moscow in the year 1990. Since then, the company is working with collaboration with different leading Russian oil and gas companies. They entered the Russian oil market by purchasing 10% share in Sidanco in 1997, the largest oil company in that time (Spekman and Linetsky 2013). By 2002, they increased their share to 25% plus one share (bp.com 2017). Their noticeable move was in 2003, merging with TNK to form TNK-BP and operating in nearly all the major Russian hydrocarbon region. They made a profit of $55 billion in the period of 2003-12 (bp.com 2017). BP sold their 50% of share in TNK-Bp to Rosneft in exchange of $12.5 billion and 18.5% share of Rosneft in 2012, which was finalize in 2013. BP and Rosenft signed a Heads of Agreement on exploration and possible development of Domanik formation in the Volga-Urals region in May 2014, and signed another agreement with Rosenft in June designing to organize long-term deliveries of oil products and crude oil on pre-paid basis. BP purchased a 20% share of Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha from Rosneft in 2015. By June 2016, Bp and Rosneft was holding the share of Yermak Neftgaz in a ration of 49:51 (bp.com 2017). Industry analysis Profitability Five forces It is an analytical tool for analyzing different level of competition in the industry. It will be used in the report to gain the idea about BPs competitors and environmental factors that comes into action in Russia. Threat of new entrants This threat depends on the entry and exit barriers in any particular industry. This industry requires a huge capital investment and technical knowledge, which makes it hard for the new entrants to enter the market. The threat of new entrants is very low and reduced through the first mover advantage obtained by making partnership with TNK (E. Dobbs 2014). Threat of Substitute Products Coal, solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, and many other types are considered as the substitute products of oil and gas. The threat for BP in Russian market is low due to an increased cost of production of alternative energy. On to it, the alternative energies do not have the similar efficiency that is provided by oil and gas. Hence, these high cost alternative energies become less attractive for the consumers (Rothaermel 2015). Rivalry among the Existing companies British petroleum is currently facing challenges in operating in Russian oil market. The alliance with Rosneft was accused to be violating TNK-BP shareholders agreement by AAR As the Aar believed that BP could not form a new oil and gas exploration partnership with Rosneft without working through TNK-Bp. AAR group sought an interim injunction in an English court to stop BP-Rosneft alliance which was granted by the court. Bp has to come up with a new plan for the hurdle faced (Aithal 2016; Shuen, Feiler and Teece 2014). Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bp has collaboration with AAR in TNK-BP which gains the company a strong base in Russian oil market. Moreover, considering the high number of supplies and maximum size of the supplies and there were high switching cost as BP strong supplier power (Dlken 2014). Bargaining Power of the Buyer It depends on the level of control of the buyer has to force down the product price and bargain for higher quality or better service. As the gas and oil is a commodity, which has a low loyalty, the bargaining power is medium. Considering the less number of suppliers in the market makes the price more or less stable, as the buyer will likely to go in favor of low process (Harrel 2016). Company Analysis Resource and Capabilities By resources, it means the assets that the company is holding. On the other hand, capabilities are the complex patterns of skill in utilizing resources to achieve a desired end-result. The company first established its office in Moscow in 1997 and since then they have gained many assets in the market. In 1997, BP entered the Russian oil market by purchasing 10% market share of Sidanko. In 2002, BP purchased 15% more of Sidanko with one market share. Next year Bp invested US$ 6.75 and became 50-50 joint venture with AAR, to be known as TNK-BR (forbes.com 2017). Their joint venture generated $ 19 billion of net dividends for BPs shareholders, excluding the taxes and duties of $190 billion paying to the Rsuuian Federation. The company had Human resource of fifty thousand employees working in TNK-BP. Moreover, BP had their separate three hundred staffs in Russia. The organization continually invested for their professional development with training of 177,000 days over five year period ( undergraduatelibrary.org 2017). The company had access to a wide range of natural resources. Their production facilities hold around 9.1bn barrels of oil in the reserves. On to it, the company started to exploit the gas reserves in 2005 (Thurner and Proskuryakova 2014). It enabled them to use a more diversified use of their resource base. This highlighted their aim in the changing environment and was recognized as their key aim in strategy refreshment in 2011. This assets of the joint collaborated organization enabled BP to grow their global production (Stepanov and Shrives 2013) BP had always invested in their research and development division to stay ahead in technology in the oil and gas industry. In Russia, they implemented their high efficient recovery and production process to ensure their long-term competitive advantage. They increased their margin and created competitive advantage in the market with their superior technology. However, the British Petroleum had stronger RD than their partner in TNK-BP which is important in the context of their breakdown of partnership. It gives BP more information control in the joint venture. BP achieved a good will of $9.1 billion in 2003. This value helps the company boost it downstream sales for the business as it is recognized as a quality petroleum offering. On the other hand, ethical business operation can help the company to improve the efficiency of the business and yeild advantage over competitors Company Business Strategy Business strategy of British Petroleum in Russia will be discussed in this part of the report. Evidence of a number of incompatible strategies has been spotted in the case. BP in the Russian market was tie up with TNK, a local oil company to do their business in the industry. The TNK-BP wanted to promote high standards of corporate governance, which required a developed operational structure and procedure that make their management accountable. However, the majority of the board positions were filled with a large number of western BP-sponsored who were not tied up with Russian corruption. Internal division and cultural clash in the organization became inevitable due to this reason (Peng 2013). On the other hand, an advanced technological advancement was necessary in the business that was supply by BP. However, this give BP the upper hand in the company, which again contributed towards cultural division This also has a positive outcome as the company was able to extract maximum amount of oil that kept their investors happy. Another incompatibility can be seen in the organization, which is the investors desire. TNK-BP was just a Russian business for BP, whereas their Russian partner visualizes it as the scope to expand internationally. These incompatibilities led to the demise of TNK-BP (Verbeke 2013). The incompetence of the business strategy was evident during the attempt to form partnership with Rosneft. The situation occurred, as the companies did not established strategic fit. TNK-BP was bias towards BP due to the formation of an unhealthy organizational culture within the organization. After overcoming the drawbacks, BP is now doing their business in Russia by making Rosneft their partner. It is a state owned Oil Company. To avoid the previous misconducts, agreement was do between the two companies with a degree of equity swap. An integration committee was form to avoid possible cultural conflict. BPs new business strategy with Rosneft can be sum up as follows: Maximum use of technological expertise in deep-water operations to recover reserves in the Arctic Circle. Use the projects of Rosneft as a supply source to Asia and provide energy to the emerging markets. Maintain balance of due-diligence to prevent all possible corruption interference with business activities. Involvement in the board of the Rosneft in order to manage the political risk in Russia. If the company can maintain the business strategy opted, they will be able to gain a long term profit out of this joint venture (bp.com, 2017). Strategic Leadership Evidence Strategic leadership can be refer as the ability to influence others to make decision that enhance the prospects for the organizations long-term success. Clearly, BP in Russia lacked a proper leadership strategy that became the prime reason for their fall. As discussed in the company business strategy, the culture clash became the primary reason in their failure. Despite of their significant growth in Russian oil and gas market in collaboration with TNK, their different business strategy resulted in cultural clash within the company cornered the company resulted into breakdown of the partnership. The joint venture of TNK-BP appointed approximately fifty thousand skilled people. BP alone stationed around 300 staffs in Russia. This led to the acquisition on BP hiring western people for significant post of the company. This resulted in cultural polarization. A proper strategic leadership could have foreseen the situation and take necessary steps in advance in which the company failed (H ouse et al. 2013). Current Position of the Company There have been many changes over past few years since 2011, when the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal formally stopped BPs effort to ally with Rosneft for Arctic oil exploration. On 2012, the company sold 50% of his TNK-BP share to Rosneft. Later, the company got approval from the Russian Federation for acquisition of 5.66% of Rosneft. The deal was finalized in the year 2013 where received US$ 12.5 billion in addition to 18.5% of Rosneft in exchange of its 50% stake in TNK-BP . 18.5% combining with 1.25% pre-deal holding resulted in 19.75% holding of BP in Rosneft. Rosneft sold 20% of its share of Taas-Yuryah Neftegazodobycha to British Petroleum, thus creating a new joint venture in East Siberia (bp.com 2017). Recently in 2017, these two companies signed final binding agreement to create a new joint venture, Yermak Neftegaz LLC that will be focusing on the onshore exploration of two major AMIs in West Siberian and Yenisey-Khatanga basins. It will cover a combining area of approximate ly 260,000 square kilometers (bp.com/en 2017). Conclusion Based on the above discussion and the current situation of the company, a conclusion can be drawn that British Petroleum has high chances in developing in the Russian oil and gas market due to their alliance with Rosneft. Rosneft is not in the oil and gas business for long, but shows ambitious growth plans, which include, its first liquefied natural gas plant. On the other hand, BP has a lot of complementary skills and ambitions and possess the most competitive LNG plants. Moreover, they have most mature assets such as water flood fields. Russia has the most number of water flood reservoirs in the world and BP has the experience in managing water flooding. This can come out as a great deal in future. The aim of BP in Russia is to build a business in which BP has quotable, material production that is separate from the production comes through Rosneft. BP is looking forward to build around 200,000 barrels a day in Russia. They need more investments and bigger plans for that. BP wants t o go more in the Downstream or venturing for low-cost and the gas potential. References Aithal, P.S., 2016. Study on ABCD analysis technique for business models, business strategies, operating concepts business systems.Browser Download This Paper. bp.com. (2017).strategic report. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/investors/bp-strategic-report-2015.pdf [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. bp.com. (2017).Working in Russia. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en_ru/russia/about-bp-in-russia/business.html [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. bp.com/en. (2017).Why Russia matetrs. [online] Available at: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/bp-magazine/locations/the-energy-giant-why-russia-matters-for-oil-and-gas.html [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. Dlken, F., 2014.Are porters five competitive forces still applicable? a critical examination concerning the relevance for todays business(Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente). Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness forbes.com. (2017).four horsemen. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2015/01/21/the-four-horsemen-of-russias-economic-apocalypse/#3620d1931542 [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017]. Harrell, L., 2016. British petroleum (BP): a critical analysis of its corporate and international strategies.International Journal of Research in IT and Management,6(3), pp.143-161. House, R.J., Dorfman, P.W., Javidan, M., Hanges, P.J. and de Luque, M.F.S., 2013.Strategic leadership across cultures: GLOBE study of CEO leadership behavior and effectiveness in 24 countries. Sage Publications. Peng, M.W., 2013.Global strategy. Cengage learning. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Spekman, Robert E. and Linetsky, Zuri, 2013. BP in Russia: Bad Partners or Bad Partnerships? (A). Darden Case No. UVA-M-0819. Stepanov, R. and Shrives, P., 2013. Analysis of corporate governance disputes in the Russian context: a case study of TNK-BP.NBS Working Paper Series. Thurner, T. and Proskuryakova, L.N., 2014. Out of the coldthe rising importance of environmental management in the corporate governance of Russian oil and gas producers.Business Strategy and the Environment,23(5), pp.318-332. Verbeke, A., 2013.International business strategy. Cambridge University Press. Shuen, A., Feiler, P.F. and Teece, D.J., 2014. Dynamic capabilities in the upstream oil and gas sector: Managing next generation competition.Energy Strategy Reviews,3, pp.5-13.

Secret Answers to Self Description Essay Exposed

Secret Answers to Self Description Essay Exposed The Good, the Bad and Self Description Essay It is very important to take a rest from your writing when you have finished the work. Enjoy the procedure for describing the subjectit may be rewarding experience. When you've taken time to check at yourself, think of what aspects of yourself you wish to concentrate on. Concentrate on the results of the awful experience, as opposed to the experience itself. Who Else Wants to Learn About Self Description Essay? It's also an opportunity to have the work proofread by somebody else. Normally, most readers receive the best representation of something through using their senses! Sometimes reading something out loud can help recognize any problems that ought to be worked out. Give the reader a feel that you're just a human being at the close of the day. They motivate me I can achieve whatever I'd like. When you have answered that question, you're ready to go. You will need to supply full sensory details that help support the thesis. Self Description Essay - What Is It? It is possible to also read your essay to other folks to receive their feedback. Your selection of words and language must convey what you're attempting to describe when you speak about a specific topic. While at it, you also ought to think of the words you will utilize to describe yourself. Among the descriptive words I opted to describe myself was maternal. The more voices that may confirm the high caliber of your writing, the better. Before starting writing the essay properly, take a while to jot down a couple of thoughts. The end of the article sums up the way the experiences altered the writer's destiny and directed him to his existing position. What You Should Do to Find Out About Self Description Essay Before You're Left Behind Based on the duration of the story, this sections length will certainly vary. Sometimes it is difficult to introduce yourself because you know yourself so well that you don't understand where to get started with. Full of what you could help starting now get a reflection. Therefore, the focus isn't merely descriptive. Deciding on a couple of aspects you want to focus on will help you narrow down what you have in your writing. You can not ever be too thorough when it has to do with reading the essay over again and checking for any places that should be reworked. While the completely free essays may giv e you inspiration for writing, they can't be used `as is' because they won't satisfy your assignment's requirements. If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Self Description Essay The hook should then be followed by means of a thesis statement that is essentially an overall description of the entire essay. The main purpose of this form of essay is to make a vivid experience for the reader and provide them a more in-depth comprehension of the essay's subject. The body of your essay should learn more about the elements of yourself you chose to write about. Subsequently, essay was defined in various ways. Essays might be lightly modified for readability or to defend the anonymity of contributors, but we don't edit essay examples before publication. The essay ought to be reviewed by means of a colleague or classmate. As you begin on your descriptive essay, it's important that you identify just what you need to describe. Again, the building of the essay might be part of the assignment, so make sure to adhere to any instructions you get. After you have the columns laid out you are able to begin to fill them with details which help to support your thesis. It is possible to decide on any myself essay given below in accordance with your need and requirement. When you compose a self descriptive essay, it requires a self evaluation because you're the subject of your own article. Do not become stuck with material possessions and what you've achieved in life. Describe where you reside and your family members, and give a physical descri ption of yourself. The body of the essay should talk about the life experiences of the author and how they've affected his thoughts and present position. For instance, if you've ever got into trouble with the law, it's not recommended to include that experience. The Self Description Essay Stories The purpose of this book is to defend a remedy to what t parent calls the issue of wayward reflection (p 36) the issue is that critical. In the principal body, the author gets to elaborate on the critical points that support the opinion they've formed. At this point he is supposed to give some general information on the subject being discussed.

Topic for a Research Paper About Art

Topic for a Research Paper About ArtOne of the most useful ways to teach a class about art is by giving them topics for a research paper about art. To make this method work, though, you have to keep the students' attention and interest. Here are some ideas about topics for a research paper about art that you can use to motivate your students and give them something to think about.A course like 'Art History' is one where there is an element of motivation. When the professor starts teaching about 'how does this show up in a particular moment in history?' then this sparks the interest of the students. Students start looking at their own lives and wondering how they came to the specific event.For example, let's say that you are teaching a history class on the artwork from the mid-nineteenth century, or even the early twentieth century. You will want to talk about what the artist was really feeling or thinking at the time. If you are talking about what the painting means in terms of the s ocial or political context of the time, then the students will think about what they could possibly mean by those particular meanings. Teaching a student how to come up with a conclusion is always the best way to stimulate a student's thinking.Another important thing about this type of course is that it is a different approach to teaching. The students learn by doing. This style of teaching makes sure that the students understand that not everything is taught in classroom form. They will be asked to do.You can encourage your students to do this by teaching them some simple act that will help them get a glimpse of what they want to say. They will also get to apply this simple act. The point of this exercise is to keep the students' attention and get them thinking about different things. It is up to you as the instructor to know which things they will do.It doesn't matter how you do it. As long as you put a little bit of pressure on them, the students will take the information and wil l try to come up with the best conclusions. You will see that the more they make use of their own interpretation of the painting, the more likely they are to come up with something that can be used to draw a conclusion. They will be getting the information about their own interpretation and then applying that to their own experience. One of the great things about this approach is that you will find that the students are more enthusiastic about the subject when they start coming up with an interpretation.You can use this approach to more than just art, for instance if you are teaching a class about printing, you might want to use the same approach. There are tons of great online media for you to use that will inspire your students to create their own interpretations.

The Best Essay Topics on the Purdue College Application Essay

The Best Essay Topics on the Purdue College Application EssayPurdue College Application Essay Topics cover the most basic topics that every potential student must learn in order to become a well-rounded human being. To make this course as effective as possible, it is imperative that you take the time to really hone in on the most important concepts that will surely have a positive impact on your life as a high school student. In fact, there are some basic topics that you will find in almost any essay course and one of the most common ones is the Purdue College Application Essay Topic Essay.One of the important aspects of the Purdue College Application Essay Topics includes the word 'ask.' This topic deals with questions and how you need to deal with them when the time comes. For example, if you are applying for admission to the Ivy League and you need a big raise, then you might be asking yourself 'Why am I being asked to do this? .'The number one goal of a good essay on these Purdue College Application Essay Topics is to tell the reader the right thing. To do this, you need to make sure that you avoid what might look to be too much information. Instead, just keep the topics short and direct.To make this happen, you need to ask yourself what you need to do, so just ask yourself what you need to get out of the whole story and focus on that. Keep in mind that the objective of this essay is to ask yourself what you need to do and not what you want to get out of it.There are plenty of different topics in which you can include in your Purdue College Application Essay Topics, but the one that you should definitely include is the one about what you need to do to get where you want to go. It is important that you let the reader know exactly what you need to do to move forward.One of the other very important aspects of the Purdue College Application Essay Topics is using the first person. It is very common for students to use the third person and this works fine, but wh en you are writing in the first person, you are allowing the reader to connect with you directly and experience the emotion of your writing.In the end, you need to make sure that you have enough information to justify your inclusion in the Purdue College Application Essay Topics. Make sure that you limit yourself to only what you need to explain to the reader, so you will be able to make the most of this topic and allow your information to lead the reader into taking action.

How to Prepare a Sociology Graduate Writing Sample

How to Prepare a Sociology Graduate Writing SampleStudents pursuing a graduate degree in sociology often do not realize that they can get great help when preparing a sociology graduate writing sample essay. As an online sociology student, you are definitely one of the many in your program who need to prepare a sample. By the time you are ready to start looking for help in reading samples, your ability to write is already established and you probably know how to analyze your findings, write a convincing conclusion, and follow through with the rest of the message.In order to create a graduate essay that will stand out, a sample should give you ideas for making your own unique conclusion. In addition, it should supply helpful information on how to make this significant statement more interesting and useful to the reader. All the essentials that you would learn by taking a sociology graduate writing sample course. Here are some great suggestions.First, you should read the self-selected r esearch materials and make sure that you understand the questions, the type of response expected, and the demographics of the research team. You may want to take a sociology graduate writing sample course before beginning to read samples. You should see what is covered in these lessons and also read the material for yourself. Do you think you could solve this problem by yourself? Most students will have a little trouble in such a situation.It's worth noting that a sample essay is written and read as part of a formal class or thesis. Once you have read the sample, you may find it difficult to put the information into words that will make sense. Students who know what to expect and know the basics in sociological concepts will likely do better with the graduate essay reading and writing sample.Keep in mind that a graduate student in sociology does not normally carry out research in the field. Instead, he or she researches by gathering data and then analyzing these data to develop more accurate and useful hypotheses. With that said, the data collection methods must be sensitive and direct enough to be able to ask valid questions and gather information quickly and efficiently.In addition, it is important that students have to be honest with the data that they collect. By doing so, the researchers can assess the accuracy of the data and be able to offer advice about the proper way to interpret the data. When possible, they will offer better results by using multiple regression analysis or using other statistical techniques to obtain more accurate results.Therefore, as a graduate student in sociology, you will always want to work with graduate writers and professionals who have a proven history in giving graduate students good examples to use in their own work. Having a good master's degree in sociology can certainly help you write a more effective, powerful, and interesting graduate essay that will allow you to gain a competitive edge in your chosen academic field.

Susan Brownell Anthony Essays - First-wave Feminism

Susan Brownell Anthony I. Susan B. Anthony : A Biographical Introduction Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts to Daniel and Lucy Anthony. Susan was the second born of eight children in a strict Quaker family. Her father, Daniel Anthony, was said to have been a stern man, a Quaker Abolitionist and a cotton manufacturer born near the conclusion of the eighteenth century. From what I read, he believed in "guiding" his children, not in 'directing' them. Daniel Anthony did not allow his offspring to experience the childish amusements of toys, games, and music, which were seen as distractions from the "inner light." Instead he enforced self-discipline, principled convictions, and the belief in one's own self-worth. Each of my sources indicates that Susan was a precocious child and she learned to read and write at the age of three. In 1826, the Anthonys moved from Massachusetts to Battensville, New York where Susan attended a district school. When the teacher refused to teach Susan long division, Susan was taken out of school and taught in a "home school" set up by her father. The school was run by a woman teacher, Mary Perkins. Perkins offered a new image of womanhood to Susan and her sisters. She was independent and educated and held a position that had traditionally been reserved to young men. Ultimately, Susan was sent to boarding school near Philadelphia. She taught at a female academy and Quaker boarding school, in upstate New York from 1846-49. Afterwards, she settled in her family home in Rochester, New York. It was here that she began her first public crusade on behalf of temperance (Anthony, 1975). II. The Struggle for Women's Rights Susan B. Anthony's first involvement in the world of reform was in the temperance movement. This was one of the first expressions of original feminism in the United States and it dealt with the abuses of women and children who suffered from alcoholic husbands. The first women's rights convention had taken place in Seneca Falls, New York, in July of 1848. The declaration that emerged was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it claimed that "all men and women are created equal" and that "the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman" (Harper, 1993, vol. 1). Following a long list of grievances were resolutions for equitable laws, equal educational and job opportunities, and the right to vote. One year later in 1849, Susan B. Anthony gave her first public speech for the "Daugters of Temperance" and then helped to found the Woman's State Temperance Society of New York, one of the first such organizations of its time. In 1851, she went to Syracuse to attend a series of anti-slavery meetings. During this time Susan met Elizabeth Stanton in person, became fast friends, and subsequently joined her and another woman named Amelia Bloomer in campaigns for women's rights. In 1854, she devoted herself to the anti-slavery movement serving from 1856 to the outbreak of the civil war in 1861. Here, Susan B. Anthony served as an agent for the American Anti-slavery Society. Afterwards, she collaborated with Stanton and published the New York liberal weekly, "The Revolution." (from 1868-70) which called for equal pay for women (Harper, 1993, vols. 1 & 2). In 1872, Susan demanded that women be given the same civil and political rights that had been extended to black males under the 14th and 15th amendments. Thus, she led a group of women to the polls in Rochester to test the right of women to vote. She was arrested two weeks later and while awaiting trial, engaged in highly publicized lecture tours and in March 1873, she tried to vote again in city elections. After being tried and convicted of violating the voting laws, Susan succeeded in her refusal to pay the fine of one hundred dollars. From then on- she campaigned endlessly for a federal woman suffrage amendment through the National Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) (from 1869-90) and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (from 1890-1906) and by lecturing throughout the country as well (Barry, 1988). III. After Anthony : The Struggle Continues The struggle to eventually win the vote was a slow and frustrating one. Wyoming Territory in 1869, Utah Territory in 1870, and the states of Colorado in 1893 and Idaho in 1896 granted women the vote but the Eastern states still resisted it. The woman-suffrage amendment to the Federal Constitution, presented to every Congress since 1878,

How to Make an Edible Water Bottle

How to Make an Edible Water Bottle You dont need to wash any dishes if you put your water in an edible water bottle! This is an easy spherification recipe that involves making a gel coating around liquid water. Once you master this simple molecular gastronomy technique, you can apply it to other liquids. Edible Water Bottle Materials The key ingredient for this project is sodium alginate, a natural gelling powder derived from algae. The sodium alginate gels or polymerizes when reacted with calcium. Its a common alternative to gelatin, used in candies and other foods. We have suggested calcium lactate as the calcium source, but you could also use calcium gluconate or food-grade calcium chloride. These ingredients are readily available online. You can also find them in grocery stores that carry ingredients for molecular gastronomy. Materials and equipment: Water1 gram sodium alginate5 grams of calcium lactateLarge bowlSmaller bowlHand mixerSpoon with a rounded bottom (soup spoon or round measuring spoon works great) The size of the spoon determines the size of your water bottle. Use a large spoon for big water blobs. Use a tiny spoon if you want little caviar-sized bubbles. Make an Edible Water Bottle In a small bowl, add 1 gram of sodium alginate to 1 cup of water.Use the hand mixer to make sure the sodium alginate is combined with the water. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes to remove any air bubbles. The mixture will turn from a white liquid to a clear mixture.In a large bowl, stir 5 grams of calcium lactate into 4 cups of water. Mix well to dissolve the calcium lactate.Use your rounded spoon to scoop up the sodium alginate solution.Gently drop the sodium alginate solution into the bowl containing the calcium lactate solution. It will immediately form a ball of water in the bowl. You can drop more spoonfuls of sodium alginate solution into the calcium lactate bath. Just be careful the water balls dont touch each other because they would stick together. Let the water balls sit in the calcium lactate solution for 3 minutes. You can gently stir around the calcium lactate solution if you like. (Note: the time determines the thickness of the polymer coating. Use less time for a thinner coating and more time for a thicker coating.) Use a slotted spoon to gently remove each water ball. Place each ball in a bowl of water to stop any further reaction. Now you can remove the edible water bottles and drink them. The inside of each ball is water. The bottle is edible too its an algae-based polymer. Using Flavors and Liquids Other Than Water As you might imagine, its possible to color and flavor both the edible coating and the liquid inside the bottle. Its okay to add food coloring to the liquid. You can use flavored beverages rather than water, but its best to avoid acidic drinks because they affect the polymerization reaction. There are special procedures for dealing with acidic beverages.