Supplies of oil are located a great distance from the population centers that use it, and for efficiency, oil is shipped in huge quantities. This combination of great distance and bulk cargo creates challenges, such as weather and piracy, for the petrochemical industry. Supply chain management professor Dan Brooks is director of the W. P. Carey MBA Custom Corporate program. His research and consulting is decision making in uncertainty and environmental issues. He works closely with the oil companies on models that use the collective intelligence of the marine professionals who manage these long supply chains to calculate the risks associated with various routes -- or, as the companies express it, to make high quality decisions about shipping.