An introduction to Petroleum

Petroleum, along with oil and coal, is classified as a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are
formed when sea plants and animals die, and the remains become buried under
several thousand feet of silt, sand or mud. Fossil fuels take millions of years to form
and therefore petroleum is also considered to be a non-renewable energy source.
Petroleum is formed by hydrocarbons (a hydrocarbon is a compound made up of
carbon and hydrogen) with the addition of certain other substances, primarily
sulphur. Petroleum in its natural form when first collected is usually named crude
oil, and can be clear, green or black and may be either thin like gasoline or thick
like tar.

There are several major oil producing regions around the globe. The Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia's crude oil fields are the largest, although Middle East oil from other
countries in the region such as Iran and Iraq also make up a significant part of
world production figures.
The North Sea crude oil fields are still fairly full, and are arguably the second most
influential oil field in economic terms. Texas, once the world's major oil region, is
now almost completely dry.
In 1859 Edwin Drake sank the first known oil well, this was in Pennsylvania. Since
this time oil and petroleum production figure grew exponentially.
Originally the primary use of petroleum was as a lighting fuel, once it had been
distilled and turned into kerosene. When Edison opened the world's first electricity
generating plant in 1882 the demand for kerosene began to drop.

However, by this time Henry Ford had shown the world that the automobile would
be the best form of transport for decades to come, and gasoline began to be a
product in high demand.
World War I was the real catalyst for petroleum production, with more petroleum
being produced throughout the war than had ever been produced previously. In
modern times petroleum is viewed as a valuable commodity, traded around the
world in the same way as gold and diamonds.
Most people tend to believe that petroleum is mostly used to power internal
combustion engines in the form of gasoline or petrol. Although our autombiles and
other forms of transport do consume the highest quantity of petroleum it is used for
a vast array of applications.
In its thickest form, the almost black petroleum is named bitumen, this is used for
paving road, forming the blacktop, it is also an excellent water repellent and is used
in roofing.
Petroleum is also a major part of the chemical makeup of many plastics and
synthetics. Possibly the most startling usage of petroleum for many people is its
appearance in foodstuffs such as beer and in medications such as aspirin.
The world has a limited supply of petroleum, and current estimations tell us that
within the next few decades mankind will have completely depleted this valuable
natural resource. Although measures have been taken to ensure that there are
cheap, renewable fuel options in place for the eventuality it is still obvious that
mankind faces a serious problem when petroleum supplies finally run out.
The Future of Petroleum
Most experts seem to agree that if the world has not already reached peak
petroleum production, then it will do so within the next 20 years. Elsewhere on the
site it is explained that peak oil does not mean that petroleum reserves have run
out, but that the maximum rate of petroleum extraction has been reached and that

subsequent methods of extraction cannot increase the rate further. Over time, the
total rate of petroleum output will decrease. This naturally leads people to question
what the future will look like. Several scenarios are possible and it seems that all of
them will come true to some degree or another, rather than any single one of them
coming true alone.
Heavy Oil and Oil Shale
Efforts have already been made to extract oil that was once considered
uneconomical to produce. As the world supplies of light, easily extractable crude oil
continue to decrease and demand continues to increase, the price people are willing
to pay for a barrel of crude will increase as well. As a result, heavier oil that was
once uneconomical to extract due to high upfront costs has become profitable to
produce.
Countries like Canada and Venezuela and United States all sit atop extremely large
deposits of heavy oil and oil shale. In fact, it is estimated that there is more heavy
oil in Venezuela then there is petroleum in the entirety of the Middle East. Canada
is currently the worlds leading producer of heavy oil and it is estimated that the
heavy crude in Canada is enough to supply the entire world at current demand for
well over 200 years. Of course, the vastness of the supply is only one of the
considerations of extracting heavy oil.
Production methods for heavy oil are discussed elsewhere, but the two things they
have in common are decreased energy returned on energy invested and it
increased impact on the environment. While world demand for petroleum continues
to rise, there has recently been competing interests from environmental lobbies
concerned about the long-term impact of extracting heavy crude. Environmental
concerns arise not just from the direct impact of the environments, but also from
the fact that the decreased energy returned on energy invested for heavy oils
means that they produce more greenhouse gases and other pollutants than do
same quantities of lighter crudes. In other words, the extraction and use of heavy
oil is expected to exacerbate the problem of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas
emissions throughout the world.
What is clear is that heavy oil production will be necessary in the near future unless
there is a drastic decrease in demand for petroleum. While techniques are being
developed to help reduce the impact of extracting heavy oil on the environment,
there is little doubt that utilization of this resource will have substantial negative
impact. For this reason, conservation has become more important than ever. The
less oil the world uses, then the less the environment is impacted both from current
and future oil production activities.
Conservation efforts are less about concern over running out of oil than they are
about concern of increasing use of oil. Environmentalists point out that time and
money being spent on research and development for the extraction of heavy oil
could be better invested into developing alternative energies.

Electricity
Because the transportation industry is responsible for using 70% of all crude oil
produced, there has been great effort in the last two decades to produce an electric
vehicle capable of performance similar to that of petroleum powered vehicles. While
there are major obstacles to overcome, recent advances have seen mileage ranges
increased from less than 100 to well over 200 miles. The major factors holding back
the mainstream production of electric vehicles are the cost of batteries, the
production and recycling of batteries, and the time that it takes to charge a battery.
In other words, the only thing holding back electric vehicles is how they store
electricity when the vehicle is not in use. A cheap, efficient, reliable alternative to
current batteries would make electric vehicles instantly practical.
Many proponents of electric powered vehicles point to hybrid vehicles as the logical
bridge between petroleum vehicles and vehicles that rely 100% upon electricity.
Hybrid vehicles offer the benefits of unlimited mileage obtained from gasoline while
increasing fuel economy through the employment of electric motors as well. These
hybrid vehicles are slowly but surely progressing from a disproportionate amount of
reliance on petroleum to increased reliance on electricity through techniques like
adding solar panels, regenerative braking, and plug-in capabilities (allowing them to
be charged through the electrical grid rather than by running their petrol motors).
It is worth pointing out that while electric vehicles can reduce petroleum use, the
source of electricity used to charge their batteries is of critical importance. If that
energy does not come from clean, renewable resources, then the problem is simply
being shifted from one location to another and is not being solved. Proponents are
clear that the success of electric vehicles also depends upon the implementation of
renewable resources for the generation of the majority of electricity. Technologies
like solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal are all being investigated and have met with
various levels of success throughout different regions of the world.
Conclusion
What is clear about petroleum is that it will continue to play a large role in our lives
in the near to medium term future. While technologies are being invented to reduce
our dependence on fossil fuels, it will be several decades before they become
commonplace and affordable. Some of the major car manufacturers across the
world estimate that it will be at least 2025 before electric vehicles are competitive
in terms of cost and performance with petroleum powered vehicles.
Even if the world the world switched to an energy source independent of petroleum,
one must not foget the fact that petroleum is an integral part of modern life in
terms of the things it is used to make beyond a gasoline and other fuels. Objects as
diverse as plastics, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics use various aspects of
petroleum as foundations in chemical reactions. In fact, our tremendous reliance on
petroleum for manufacturing and not for fuel is all the more reason to be
conservative about simply burning it to drive across town

Other Uses of Petroleum

When most people think of petroleum they think of gasoline and diesel fuel. They
may even conjure up images of jet fuel, but most will rarely consider the other
unexpected places that petroleum byproducts show up in modern life. Because
crude oil contains a vast number of different hydrocarbons, various refined products
have found their way into everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals.
The industry that uses petroleum to produce other chemicals is referred to as the
petrochemical industry. It is estimated that industrialized nations currently consume
petrochemical products at a rate of three and a half gallons of oil per day. That
means that, excluding fuel oil, modern life results in each citizen of an industrial
nation using over 1,200 gallons of oil per year.
Agriculture
One of the most important uses of petroleum is in the production of ammonia to be
used as the nitrogen source in agricultural fertilizers. In the early 20th century, Fritz
Haber invented a process that allowed for industrial scale production of ammonia.
Prior to that, ammonia for fertilizer came only from manure and other biological
processes.
The Haber process works in two steps. First, methane from natural gas is cleaned
to remove sulfur and hydrogen sulfide. It is then reacted with steam over a catalyst
to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In the next step, which is the actual
Haber process, hydrogen and gaseous nitrogen are reacted at high heat and
pressure to produce ammonia, which is siphoned off and added to chemical
fertilizers.
Agriculture also depends on the use of pesticides to ensure consistent, healthy crop
yields. Pesticides are almost all produced from oil. In essence, from running farm
machinery to fertilizing plants, agriculture is one of the largest users of petroleum
based products.
Plastics
Plastic is a staple of modern life. From computer monitors to nylon to Styrofoam,
plastics are integral aspects of many manufactured products. Polystyrene, from
which Styrofoam is made, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were both products of postWorld War II industrialization. Nylon, which is in everything from stockings to
mechanical gears and even in car engines, is the most successful petroleum-based
plastic to date. Most plastics come from olefins, which include ethylene and
propylene.
Tires

Tires are made of rubber. Until 1910 all rubber was produced from natural
elastomers obtained from plants. The need for synthetic rubber was relatively small
until World War II, which resulted in embargos on natural rubber from South
America and the need to produce synthetic rubber on a large scale. Rubber is
primarily a product of butadiene.
Pharmaceuticals
Mineral oil and petrolatum are petroleum byproducts used in many creams and
topical pharmaceuticals. Tar, for psoriasis and dandruff, is also produced from
petroleum. Most pharmaceuticals are complex organic molecules, which have their
basis in smaller, simpler organic molecules. Most of these precursors are petroleum
byproducts.
Dyes, Detergents, and Other
Petroleum distillates such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and others provide the raw
material for products that include dyes, synthetic detergents, and fabrics. Benzene
and toluene are the starting materials used to make polyurethanes, which are used
in surfactants, oils, and even to varnish wood. Even sulfuric acid has its origins in
the sulfur that is removed from petroleum.
Partial List of Unexpected Products Made from or Containing Petroleum

Ink

Upholstery

CDs

Vitamin Capsule

Denture Adhesive

Putty

Guitar Strings

Heart Valves

Anesthetics

Cortisone

Toilet Seats

Crayons

Pillows

Artificial Turf

Deodorant

Lipstick

Hair Coloring

Aspirin

Petroleum Industry Statistics

The American Petroleum Institute maintains statistics on the industry. Here are
statistics for July 2010.

The total petroleum products delivered to the domestic market was

19,319,000 barrels per day.

U.S. petroleum imports amounted to 12,675,000 barrels per day.

Persian Gulf petroleum imports accounted for 20.1 percent of total petroleum
imports in the U.S.

U.S. crude oil production at the same time was 5,288,000 barrels of oil per
day, of which approximately 430,000 barrels was from Alaska.

The average number of active drilling rings in the U.S. was 1,541 for the
entirety of 2010

In May 2011, oil imports to the United States came from the following:

Country

Barrels per day

Percent of Total
Imports

Canada

2,207,000

24.4

Saudi Arabia

1,192,000

13.2

Venezuela

981,000

13.2

Nigeria

834,000

10.9

Mexico

704,000

9.2

Russia

677,000

7.5

Iraq

407,000

4.4

Algeria

393,000

4.4

Colombia

393,000

4.4

Angola

356,000

3.9

Compared to the U.S., the UK consumed approximately 1.6 million barrels of oil per
day in 2011. Until 2005, the UK was a net exporter of oil. The change in
import/export status was a result of diminishing oil production and not due to
increased utilization. Following 2005, the U.K. imported oil as follows:

Location

Percentage of Total

Middle East

Western Hemisphere

Norway

70

Africa

Other

17

Petroleum Composition
Most people presume petroleum to be similar to gasoline or petrol, simply a less
pure form, which needs to be refined. In actuality the chemical composition of
petroleum in its raw state can vary extremely.
This variation is the reason why petroleum composition differs so much in colour
and viscosity between crude oil fields and geographical areas.
Petroleum, or crude oil as it is now usually referred too when raw, contains several
chemical compounds, the most prolific being the hydrocarbons themselves which
give thepetroleum composition its combustible nature.

Although the composition of petroleum will contain many trace elements the key
compounds are carbon (93% 97%), hydrogen (10% - 14%), nitrogen (0.1% 2%), oxygen (01.% - 1.5%) and sulphur (0.5% - 6%) with a few trace metals
making up a very small percentage of the petroleum composition.
The actual overall properties of each different petroleum source are defined by the
percentage of the four main hydrocarbons found within petroleum as part of the
petroleum composition.
The percentages for these hydrocarbons can vary greatly, giving the crude oil a
quite distinct compound personality depending upon geographic region. These
hydrocarbons are typically present in petroleum at the following percentages:
paraffins (15% - 60%), napthenes (30% - 60%), aromatics (3% to 30%), with
asphaltics making up the remainder.
The composition of petroleum is defined as laid out above, and it is this
composition which gives the crude oil its properties.

Raw petroleum is usually dark brown or almost black although some fields deliver a
greenish or sometimes yellow petroleum. Depending upon the field and the way the
petroleum composition was formed the crude oil will also differ in viscosity.
At the extreme ranges petroleum can be almost solid, and required a significant
investment of resources to refine into a useable state as anything other than
bitumen. At the other end of the scale the petroleum composition can be a clear
fluid resembling kerosene or gasoline, needing very little refining to be useable as a
fuel.
When discussing the composition of petroleum it is important to note that the
compound of the raw petroleum tends to dictate the usage of the refined product.
Petroleum is generally measured in volume, and for some composition of petroleum
it is not cost effective to refine these into fuel.
A lighter, less dense raw petroleum composition with a compound that contains
higher percentages of hydrocarbons is much more profitable as a fuel source.
Whereas other, denser petroleum composition with a less flammable level of
hydrocarbons and sulphur are expensive to refine into a fuel and are therefore
more suitable for plastics manufacturing and other uses.
Unfortunately the worlds reserves of light petroleum (light crude oil) are severely
depleted and refineries are forced to refine and process more and more heavy
crude oil and bitumen.
In some cases the refining process will need to remove carbon and add hydrogen,
adding an extra, costly step to the refining process. This change in compound of the
world's energy producing petroleum and the associated rise in refining costs has
directly affected the price of gasoline across the world.
Heavy Crude Oil
Like light crude, the definition of heavy crude varies by region and by the
organization making the determination. In general, if it has an API gravity less than
20, it is considered heavy. At an API gravity of 10, crude oil will have the same
density as water. Any API below 10 and the crude sinks in water rather than
floating. Oils with an API in this range are often called extra heavy oils. It is
estimated that there is twice the amount of heavy crude in reserves than light
crude.
When it comes to general properties, heavy crude is thicker, more resistant to flow,
and usually contains higher levels of sulfur and other contaminants than does light
oil. For heavy oil to be made into gasoline, it has to be refined, cracked to make
large hydrocarbons smaller, and treated to remove contaminants like sulfur. All of
this extra refining requires more energy input for the same energy output, which
reduces the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) ratio. EROEI helps to
determine how valuable a barrel of crude is because crude that requires more
energy input is more expensive to refine, which reduces profit. Beyond the need for

additional refinement, heavy crude also poses extraction and transportation issues
that are not present with light crude.
Extraction of heavy crude requires higher energy input. Heavy crude does not flow
like light crude. In fact, its consistency is often compared to that of molasses at
room temperature and it is even occasionally solid if not heated. The field of
petroleum chemistry has its origins in attempts to make heavy crude easy to
extract and transport. Current methods of extraction include open-pit mining,
steam stimulation (to make it less viscous), the addition of sand to the oil, and the
injection of air into wells to create fires that burn heavier hydrocarbons and
degrade them into lighter, more easily pumped varieties.
Transporting heavy crude often requires the addition of diluting agents, particularly
in pipeline transport. These diluents are referred to as Heavy Oil Drag Reducing
Agents or DRAs. Most pipelines were initially designed for light crude and thus
cannot accommodate heavy crude unless it is modified. Often times, heavy and
light crude are mixed to promote transport through pipeline. This, of course, results
in contamination of the light crude and a reduction in its value.
The other major drawback to heavy crude is its environmental impact. Two specific
aspects of heavy crude contribute to this. First, it is contaminated with sulfur and
heavy metals, both of which must be removed. Heavy metals are often toxic and
their removal from crude presents disposal issues. The sulfur content of heavy oil
may be as high as 4.5%. Sulfur contributes to acid rain and in combination with
hydrogen, produces hydrogen sulfide, which can be deadly. Sulfur is corrosive to
pipeline metal and refinery components.
The other environmental impact of heavy crude is carbon dioxide output, which can
be as much as 3 times that of light crude of the same quantity. There are two
reasons for this. First, more energy must be input to generate the same quantity of
useable material from heavy crude compared to light. This means more carbon
dioxide is released for the same amount of useable energy produced. In addition,
heavy crude has a higher carbon to hydrogen ratio than light crude. In other words,
it contains less hydrogen per carbon than does light crude, which means that when
it is burned, more carbon dioxide is created.
Most heavy crude is found in Canada and Venezuela, though there are deposits
throughout the world. It is generally divided into two categories based on sulfur
content. Low sulfur heavy crude has less than 1% sulfur and is primarily found in
Africa. High sulfur crude is found throughout the rest of the globe, with Venezuela
having the largest single deposit. In fact, the deposit of heavy crude in Venezuela is
greater than any recoverable deposit in the world, including Saudi Arabia and
Canada.
Light Crude Oil
The terms light and heavy in reference to crude can be misleading. Rather than
referring to weight, they actually refer to density, with light crude being less

dense than heavy crude. Light crude has a low viscosity and because it has low wax
content, it is a liquid at room temperature. These properties make it easy to pump
and extract. Light oil constitutes approximately 30% of the worlds petroleum
reserves.
Light crude is composed of a high number of paraffins, which are straight and
branched chain hydrocarbons that have a high hydrogen to carbon ratio. Essentially,
they have two hydrogen atoms for every carbon atom they contain. Because
hydrogen weighs roughly 12 times less than carbon, paraffins are lighter and less
dense than hydrocarbons with a lower hydrogen to carbon ratio. The best light
crudes contain roughly 60% paraffin.
Light crude not only has a high number of paraffins, but the paraffins that is does
contain tend to be shorter in length. Currently, gasoline is the most valuable
product derived from crude oil. The bulk of typical gasoline contains paraffins that
are 10 carbon atoms in length. That is, the hydrocarbons in gasoline are mostly
made up by linking 10 carbon atoms end to end to create a chain. The chain length
range in gasoline is 4 to 12 carbons. Because light crude naturally contains a high
number of these short chains, it does not have to be refined to a great extent to
produce gasoline.
Light crude is traded on several exchanges, but none as important as the New York
Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) where light crude is traded as a commodity under the
designation CL. Prices set on the NYMEX determine the prices that will be paid for
a product throughout the world. In general, when the cost of a barrel of crude is
referenced it is the price of light crude on the NYMEX that is being quoted. Usually
that light crude is either West Texas Intermediate or Brent Crude. When trading
crude, the minimum price fluctuation is $0.01. However, because the smallest
contract size allowed is 1,000 barrels, this equates to a change in price on the
exchange of $10.00.
The NYMEX is so important that it even dictates the cutoff API gravity value used to
determine what is light or heavy crude. The term light crude is not set in stone
and is not consistent across the globe. The region that crude comes from helps
determine if its API gravity falls into the light or the heavy category. U.S. oil with an
API between 37 degrees and 42 degrees is considered light. By comparison, the
NYMEX designates any non-U.S. oil between 32 and 42 degrees API as light. So,
light oil from outside of the U.S. may be denser than light oil produced inside
the United States. Arabian standards are different as are those set by the Canadian
National Energy Board and the government of Mexico. In the end, the NYMEX has
the largest sway in terms of what oil gets the financial incentive of being called
light. Remember that API is inversely related to density, so the greater the API,
the lighter the oil.
Light crude is found through-out the world, but three benchmarks are commonly
referenced and tend to set the standard in terms of price. They are West Texas
Intermediate (API 39.6), Brent Crude (API 38.06), and Dubai Crude (API 31.0).
Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, the largest oil field in the world produces light crudes

with API values that range from 33 degrees to 40 degrees. Note that an API of 31 is
considered light by Arabian standards, but would not be light if produced inside of
the United States.
Bitumen and Oil Sands
Bitumen is the preferred geologic term for the sticky, highly viscous semi-solid
hydrocarbon present in most natural petroleum. It is alternatively called pitch,
resin, and asphaltum.
Bitumen is not the same thing as tar, which is a thermo-plastic made by the
destructive distillation of coal. Bitumen is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon and has
mostly replaced tar as the binding agent in asphalt-based roads. Bitumen generally
contains a mixture of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The versions of these
hydrocarbons present in bitumen are generally extremely large, made up of
multiple rings, and have exceptionally low hydrogen to carbon ratios. With liquid
hydrocarbons having a ratio of hydrogen to carbon of approximately 2:1, it is easy
to see why bitumen with a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 is so viscous. Bitumen will not flow
unless heat or mixed with lighter crudes to reduce viscosity.
Bitumen is exceptionally difficult to extract, with most processes requiring some
level of physical mining as opposed to pump extraction. Bitumen crude is found
impregnated in sedimentary rock, much of which is located in Canada. This rock is
often referred to as oil sand or tar sand. The Athabasca oil sands are the largest
bitumen deposits in Canada. They are only accessible to surface mining. Venezuela
and the United States contain the second and third largest deposits of oil sands
respectively. Venezuelas deposits are less viscous and easier to extract, but their
technology is behind that of Canada and the United States, so they actually produce
less petroleum from their reserves. If all deposits in Canada are upgraded to crude,
it is estimated that the country could supply the rest of the world with oil for
roughly 200 years.
Transport of bitumen in the form of asphalt for road construction usually occurs at
temperatures of 150 C (300 F). Sometimes diesel or kerosene are mixed with
asphalt in order to retain liquidity and then separated out immediately before use.
In trucks that carry asphalt for road work, all aspects of the vehicle that contain or
pump asphalt must be heated. In addition, the nozzles for spraying the asphalt are
often flushed with chemicals to dissolve deposits.
Bitumen has been used for a number of purposes over the centuries including as
mortar between bricks, base material for statues, as waterproofing, and in
roadways. In modern uses, it makes up 5% of the products in asphalt cement used
in roadways. Roofing accounts for the majority of the remaining bitumen use,
though it has niche applications in sound-deadening materials for computers,
dishwashers, and cars. With recent increases in crude oil prices, it has become
profitable to upgrade bitumen to synthetic crude.

Oil Shale
Oil shale can be a confusing term and the reason is that it can contain crude oil,
bitumen, and even natural gas. The easiest way to understand oil shale is to look at
its geological origins.
Oil shale refers to a type of crude oil that can be refined from sedimentary rock.
Sedimentary rock, because it is made by compression, can contain a variety of
different things including organic matter. The organic matter in sedimentary rock is
referred to as kerogen. Kerogen itself is usually formed from algae and other
marine plant life.
Kerogen is a mixture of organic chemicals and hydrocarbons in solid form. The solid
part is called bitumen. The problem with kerogen is that it is dispersed throughout
sedimentary rock layers, making it a solid rather than a liquid. In some natural
cases, heat from the Earths core or from various other processes warms oil shale
and liquefies its hydrocarbons. In some cases, these can then seep through the
rock and collect as traditional deposits of liquid petroleum. However, in many cases,
this never happens and the kerogen remains trapped in the rock.
For sedimentary rock that contains high levels of kerogen, the potential return on
investment for removing the hydrocarbon component will become financially
feasible when prices of crude oil rise high enough. Removal of kerogen can occur in
one of two basic ways. In the first method, open pit and strip mining are used to
removed solid material that is then processed above ground to separate the
hydrocarbons. In some cases, oil shale is simply burned at electrical generating
plants without going through any processing and the rubble is removed when it
builds up.
In the second method, called in-situ processing, the oil shale is heated
underground, before extraction. Underground processing is thought to be able to
extract more petroleum from given reserves and may even be less damaging to the
environment. All in-situ processing technologies are currently termed experimental.
Even when fully extracted and processed, oil shale will not yield petroleum of the
same quality as light crude. Across the board, sulfur content averages 0.76%, but
can be as high as high 10%. The API gravity also tends to be lower for oil shale,
especially for when processing takes place above ground. Oil shale also tends to
have disproportionately higher quantities of oxygen and nitrogen than traditional
crude. Oil shale, in general, does not lend itself to the production of gasoline and is
preferentially used for middle distillates such as diesel and jet fuel.
Because of the high levels of energy put into extraction and processing, combined
with the high levels of energy needed to remove contaminants during refining, the
EROEI ratio for oil shale is much lower than for traditional petroleum. This means
oil shale produces more carbon dioxide and more pollution for the same amount of
end product, making it a much less environmentally friendly alternative.

Because world oil reserves, particularly of light crude, are being depleted and
cannot produce petroleum at a rate fast enough to keep up with demand, mining of
oil shale is becoming increasingly profitable and common. Large deposits of oil
shale exist in Canada, the United States, and Venezuela. Canada is currently the
worlds leading producer of petroleum products derived from oil shale.
Petroleum Formation
Petroleum formation occurs by various hydrocarbons combining with certain
minerals such as sulphur under extreme pressure. Modern day scientists have
proven that most if not all petroleum fields were created by the remains of small
animal and plant life being compressed on the sea bed by billions of tons of silt and
sand several million years ago.
When small sea plants and animals die they will sink, they will then lie on the sea
bed where they will decompose and mix with sand and silt. During the
decomposition process tiny bacteria will clean the remains of certain chemicals such
as phosphorus, nitrogen and oxygen.

This leaves the remains consisting of mainly carbon and hydrogen. At the bottom of
the ocean there is insufficient oxygen for the corpse to decompose entirely. What
we are left with is the raw materials for the formation of petroleum.
The partially decomposed remains will form a large, gelatinous mass, which will
then slowly become covered by multiple layers of sand, silt and mud. This burying
process takes millions of years, with layers piling up one atop another.
As the depth of the sediment build up increases the weight of the sand and silt
pressing down on the mass will compress it into a layer which is much thinner than
the original.

Finally, when the depth of the buried decomposing layer reaches somewhere around
10,000 feet the natural heat of the earth and the intense pressure will combine to
act upon the mass. The end result, over time, is the formation of petroleum.
With petroleum formation the actual temperature applied to the original organic
mass is critical in determining the overall properties of the resulting petroleum.
Typically lower temperatures during petroleum formation will result in thicker,
darker raw petroleum deposits, the most solid of which being a bitumen substance.
If the heat applied during the formation of petroleum process fluctuates too much
then gas will be produced, often separating from the petroleum, sometimes
remaining mixed with the raw oil. If temperatures are too high, in the somewhere
over 450 degrees Fahrenheit then the original biomass will be destroyed and no gas
or petroleum is formed.
As the mud and silt above the deposit become heavier and the forces placed upon
the silt and mud begin to change the bottom layers of the compressing layer above
the petroleum then it will turn into shale.
As the shale forms the oil will be forced out of its original area of formation. The
raw petroleum then moves to a new rock formation, usually termed a reservoir
rock, and lays trapped until it is accessed in some way.
As we can see, the formation of naturally occurring rawpetroleum takes millions of
years, certainly far longer than can be deemed renewable, yet mankind has
managed to almost complete deplete the world supply in little more than a century.
It is important that people are educated and come to realise that burning such a
precious fuel, which takes so long to form, at such a rate as we do now is nothing
short of disastrous for the environment.
Abiotic Oil Formation
Though the current accepted theory of oil formation involves the slow
transformation of animal and plant matter into hydrocarbon (the biotic or biogenic
theory), it is not the only theory that has been put forth. As early as the 16th
century, one theory of the origin of oil claimed that it resulted from deep carbon
deposits that have been around far longer than life on this planet. The theory,
which came to be known as the abiotic oil formation (AOF) theory, was largely
forgotten until rather recently when a few people (some of them scientists) revived
it.
The newest version of the AOF theory states that oil arises from inorganic processes
that occur deep within the core or lower mantle of the Earth. Here, they say, oil is
formed and then percolates up through cracks and porous rock to fill the reservoirs
that humans tap to get oil. If this claim is true, then oil may not be nearly as

limited in quantity as proponents of the biotic theory claim. This would mean oil is
more renewable than we have been led to believe.
Origins
The AOF theory has been championed for a number of reasons, but many current
proponents point to the presence of methane on comets, meteors, and other lifeless
planets as evidence that organic material is not needed to produce petroleum.
Other supporters point to other clues about the origins of oil such as the distribution
of metals in oil, the association of hydrocarbons with helium, and the presence of
oil deposits in large-scale structures rather than patchy sedimentary deposits.
These, proponents claim, are all reasons to believe that oil does not come from
plant and animal matter, but rather from some natural chemical process involving
inorganic materials.
The theory persists for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest is that no one
has actually ever witnessed the formation of oil. Because it takes millions of years
for a fossil fuel to form, any theories we have about the process of formation is
based on observations of current material. It is possible to speculate, make
predictions and test those predictions to gain evidence to support or reject a given
theory, but it is not possible to be as certain about the formation of oil as we are
about something like the formation ice, which we can directly observe. So, which
theory has more supporting evidence?
Evidence
Most scientists believe the evidence comes down decidedly on the side of oil
forming from deceased organic matter. They point to very strong chemical evidence
(so called biomarkers) that show hydrocarbons have an organic origin and not an
inorganic origin. They also point out that various stages of hydrocarbon
development have been uncovered, showing the progression from say peat all the
way to anthracite coal or from algae to oil. They also argue that small quantities of
hydrocarbon can be produced in laboratories, thus strong supporting their stance.
Proponents of the abiotic theory are not without their evidence, however. These
scientists point to the fact that oil reservoirs have been shown to refill when left
alone for periods of time, something that does not fit with the biotic theory. They
also point to the presence of oil on meteors and other bodies that do not and never
have supported life. They also suggest that claims about the chemical nature of oil
are spurious because we do not know what processes occur deep in the Earth that
may cause oil to look as though it came from an organic source when it did not. It
is also true that oil can be produced from inorganic material, lending support to this
theory.
Consensus
Most scientists support the biotic theory of oil production for a number of reasons.
In response to the evidence for the abiotic theory, they say the following.

First, refilling of wells can be explained by two phenomena. One, our ability to
extract oil from more difficult environments is constantly increasing. As a result,
wells that were once tapped out can now be reopened and produce again using
new technology. Two, because oil moves and is of different densities, it is true that
pumping oil from a well may relieve pressure, which then allows oil trapped in
cracks, faults, and other pockets to enter the well over time.
The second reason many scientists doubt the abiotic theory is that its basic tenets
dont seem to be viable. Namely, the idea that rocks at great depth are porous is
the opposite of what research shows. Of course, proponents of the theory point to
the fact that magma manages to escape, so why not petroleum.
The third and most substantial reason for discounting the abiotic theory is that the
chemistry doesnt add up. First, there doesnt seem to be enough CO2 below the
surface of the Earth to make the formation of oil possible. In scientific terms, the
mass balance of the equation is errant. More importantly, however, is the distinct
isotopic and biochemical structure of oil, which strongly support and organic origin.
For example, helium that is trapped with hydrocarbon deposits (and is an inert gas
so it does not react with anything), is of a specific character that means it almost
certainly came from the surface of the Earth and not anywhere else.
What is clear is that these issues require more research and, given the importance
of oil to our energy needs, many prestigious institutions are working to solve the
dilemma. In the United States, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute are attempting to determine just how deep oil deposits can be found. The
deeper they are, the less likely it is that they came from biotic origin.
The other possibility here is the both groups are right. Oil may form through both
processes. If so, then oil may not be as limited a resource as we currently surmise.
Politics
Like many issues, politics play a major role in the abiotic versus biotic oil formation
argument. Until recent decades, the main argument propelling each was the
supposedly limited supply of fossil fuel available. For those pumping it from the
ground, limiting supply has financial gain. For politicians, a limited supply can be
used to control people and as justification for actions like war. An unlimited supply,
on the other hand, means that we need not worry about running out, that we ought
to be able to drill for more oil and increase the daily supply so as to decrease price,
and so forth.
The arguments above, however, have been pushed aside in recent years by fears
that global warming is directly attributable to carbon dioxide produced by burning
hydrocarbons. If this is true, it doesnt matter if oil is limited or not because using it
is causing immense damage.
In the end, science will settle the debate, but what science gets funded is directly
related to which politicians are in power and who is footing the bill. At some point

we will know the definitive answers to questions about the origin of oil and to
questions about the impact of CO2 on the environment
The Chemistry of Petroleum Formation
At its base, petroleum is a fossil fuel, which means it is derived from the remains of
organic material. In other words, petroleum results from a number of chemical
reactions that occur to material that was once alive. In most cases, liquid petroleum
was once zooplankton or algae that settled to the bottom of a sea or lake and was
then buried under sediment. The sediment ensured that no oxygen was able to
reach the decaying organic matter and this set the stage for the formation of oil.
In most cases, the organic matter goes through several changes that take
thousands or millions of years. As sediment continues to pile up and increase
pressure on the organic matter, it is first changed into a waxy solid called kerogen.
In fact, this material is currently being mined in many fracking processes because
it can, through chemical conversion, be made into liquid petroleum and natural gas.
Kerogen is formed in a process called diagenesis, the chemical form of which is
outlined in the following diagram.

Essentially, heat and pressure break down organic compounds like humin (not
human) and various other organic acids, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates to form
long hydrocarbon chains called geopolymers. These geopolymers are the basis of
kerogen. Diagenesis is a critical mechanism in the formation of coal and is just the
first of several processes necessary to convert solid hydrocarbon to liquid
petroleum.
The addition of greater heat is necessary to convert kerogen to liquid or gaseous
hydrocarbons and the process takes time. The combination of high temperature and
pressure is necessary to carry out the endothermic process known as hydrocarbon
pyrolysis. It is sometimes referred to as cracking as well.
Hydrocarbon pyrolysis is irreversible, which means that once a liquid hydrocarbon is
formed, it is not converted back into solid form. This is why oil deposits can exist
below the surface for millions of years unchanged. Liquid hydrocarbons are really
just formed by breaking longer chains. It is a general rule in chemistry that the
larger a molecule is, the more likely it is to be solid and the smaller a molecule is,
the more likely it is to be a liquid or gas. Long hydrocarbon chains are solid, while
medium chains (5 25 carbons long) are liquid. Smaller chains (less than 5 carbon
atoms), tend to be gases. That is why gasoline at 7 or 8 carbons is a liquid while
methane, with only one carbon atom, is a gas.

Versions of cracking are used in industry to create everything from charcoal to

carbon fiber to biofuels. The process is often used in oil refineries to breakdown the
less valuable heating oil molecules (25 carbons per chain on average) into smaller,
more valuable 7 and 8 chain molecules that can be sold as gasoline.
The Importance of Oxygen
Oxygen is critical to many processes and its absence is absolutely critical to the
formation of hydrocarbons. When oxygen is present, several things can happen. At
the surface, when organic material is first laid down, the presence of oxygen means
the presence of bacteria that can quickly consume the decaying material before it
has a chance to be buried by sediment. This is why most petroleum deposits were
once at the bottom of a sea or lake, often one with very low oxygen content, where
sediment had time to accumulate before too much decay could occur in the
presence of oxygen.
If oxygen is present, besides derailing the early stages of kerogen formation
completely, it can also lead to the formation of acids and other molecules rather
than strict hydrocarbon. These are usually detrimental to the formation of
hydrocarbon and can even reverse formation that has already occurred.
Finally, levels of oxygen that are not high enough to prevent hydrocarbon formation
can still be a problem Low levels of oxygen can lead to the buildup of toxic nitrogen
oxide compounds as well as sulfuric and sulfurous acids. All these act as
contaminants in petroleum, making it more expensive and difficult to refine.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is simply methane and can be associated with oil fields or found in its
own deposits. In either case, natural gas can be thought of as the last product of a
chain of cracking reactions. Methane is a single carbon atom with four hydrogen
atoms. It is the simplest, smallest hydrocarbon and thus cannot be broken down
further.
Reservoirs made only of natural gas have occurred in one of two ways. Either the
natural gas has leaked from another petroleum deposit that contains other
hydrocarbons or all of the hydrocarbons in the deposit have been converted to
methane, leaving few if any other hydrocarbons. High temperatures and pressures
are necessary for natural gas formation. As a general rule of thumb, the lower the
pressure and temperature, the heavier the hydrocarbon will be. Natural gas is only
found near the surface if it has escaped from a deeper well.
Methane is also commonly produced by bacteria, making it rather unique among
petroleum products (though there are limited instances in which bacteria have been
shown to produce things like butane). The bacteria that produce methane are
known as methanogens, and can produce methane directly from organic material
under anoxic (oxygen free) conditions. These are the bacteria that cause methane
production in landfills. Some natural gas may be formed this way during early

stages of petroleum formation, but most is likely lost to the atmosphere if there is
not a solid layer of sediment to trap it.
Fuel from Crude
The primary uses of crude oil to this point have been in the production of fuel. A
single barrel of crude oil can produces the following components, which are listed
by percent of the barrel they constitute.

42% Gasoline

22% Diesel

9% Jet Fuel

5% Fuel Oil

4% Liquefied Petroleum Gases

18% Other products

Refining
Petroleum refining refers to the process of converting crude oil into useful products.
Crude oil is composed of hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules, which are
separated through the process of refining. The process is divided into three basic
steps: separation, conversion, and treatment.
Separation
Separation refers to the process of distillation. Crude oil is heated in a furnace so
that hydrocarbons can be separated via their boiling point. Inside large towers,
heated petroleum vapors are separated into fractions according to weight and
boiling point. The lightest fractions, which include gasoline, rise to the top of the
tower before they condense back to liquids. The heaviest fractions will settle at the
bottom because they condense early.
Conversion
Conversion is simply the process of changing on kind of hydrocarbon into another.
Of the, the desired product is gasoline. Cracking is the process of taking heavier,
less valuable fractions of crude and converting them into lighter products. Cracking
uses heat and pressure to break heavier elements into lighter ones. Alkylation is
another common process, which is basically the opposite of cracking. In alkylation,
small gaseous byproducts are combined to form larger hydrocarbons.
>Treatment

Treatment is the final process of refining, and includes combining processed

products to create various octane levels, vapor pressure properties, and special
properties for products used in extreme environments. One common example of
treatment is the removal of sulfur from diesel fuel, which is necessary for it to meet
clean air guidelines. Treatment is highly technical and is the most time consuming
step of refining.
Gasoline
Gasoline is the most popular product derived from petroleum and constitutes the
largest fraction of product obtained per barrel of crude oil. The hydrocarbons in
gasoline have a chain length of between 4 and 12 carbons. Internal combustion
engines burn gasoline in a controlled process called deflagration. Of importance in
this process is the timing of combustion, which can be adversely impacted by
autoignition of gasoline. This leads to the phenomenon commonly referred to as
engine knock. In fact, the resistance to autoignition is the largest difference
between gasoline and jet fuel, jet fuel being highly resistant to autoignition. A
gasolines resistance to autoignition is expressed in its octane rating. Octane levels
are manipulated by the addition of a particular hydrocarbon called octane. The
higher the octane rating of the gasoline, the more the fuel can be compressed.
Higher compression means higher temperature and pressure can be achieved inside
the engine, which translates to higher power output.
Diesel
Diesel fuel consists of hydrocarbons of a chain length between eight and 21 carbon
atoms. Diesel has higher energy content per volume than gasoline. Because they
hydrocarbons in diesel are larger, it is less volatile and therefore less prone to
explosion, which is one reason it is preferred in military vehicles.
Unlike gasoline engines, diesel engines do not rely upon electrically generated
sparks to ignite the fuel. Diesel is compressed to high degree along with air,
creating high temperatures within the cylinder that lead to combustion. This
process makes diesel engines highly efficient, achieving up to 40% better fuel
economy than gasoline powered vehicles.
Until recently, diesel fuel contained a high degree of sulfur, which contributes to
acid rain. Because of their similar distillation points, diesel and sulfur contaminants
are removed from crude at the same time during refining. Government regulation
now requires that additional steps be taken to remove the sulfur so that diesel fuel
is more environmentally friendly. This is part of reason that diesel fuel costs more
than gasoline
Heating Oil and Fuel Oil
Fuel oil is one of the left-over products of crude refining. It is often less pure than
other refined products, containing a broader range of hydrocarbons. Because of its

contaminants, fuel oil has a high flash point and is more prone to autoignition. It
also produces more pollutants when burned.
Jet Fuel
Jet fuel requires specific characteristics. Namely, it must have a low flammability
and it must be able to experience the cold temperatures associated with high
altitude without freezing. Jet fuel is based on kerosene, which is slightly heavier
than gasoline. Additives help to ensure that it is highly compressible, has a low
volatility, and will be free from freezing. Jet fuel comes in three main types:
Jet A
Used only in the United States. Flash point of 38 C (100 F) and autoiginition
temperature of 210 C (410 F). This makes jet fuel safer than traditional gasoline.
Jet A-1
Jet A-1 is similar to Jet A, but with a lower freezing point of 47 C.
Jet B
Jet B is designed for use in cold climates. It has a lower autoignition temperature,
which makes it more dangerous than Jet A fuels.
Fracking (Hydraulic Fracturing)
As the reserves of recoverable liquid petroleum diminish, oil companies are
increasingly turning to unconventional resources. Unconventional resources include
such things as extra heavy oil and shale. It is estimated that as much as 30% of
total world oil reserves are in the form of shale. Because shale is a fine-grained,
sedimentary rock, the oil it contains does not easily flow and therefore must be
released before it can be pumped from the ground. The process employed is
called hydraulic fracturing, and generally consists of four stages.
Drilling
Hydraulic fracturing is most often performed in horizontally drilled wells. After a
period of vertical drilling in order to reach shale deposits, a lateral extension of up
to 5000 feet is drilled parallel to the rock layer containing the shale. Lateral drilling
has many advantages, including reduce ground surface disruption.
Fracturing
In the next step, water is injected into the recently bored hole. Occasionally, other
substances such as gels, foams, compressed gases and even air are injected.
Chemical mixtures are usually included in the injection. Chemicals are intended to

increase the permeability of the rock by dissolving various components. The exact
composition of the chemical injection is based on the geological composition of the
area.
Added chemicals include acids, biocides to kill bacteria, corrosion inhibitors, and
surfactant. Specifics include hydrochloric acid, methanol, ammonium chloride,
ethylene glycol (antifreeze), isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). Approximately 750
chemicals are listed as possible additives for hydraulic fracturing.
The fluid is injected under high pressure with the intent of fracturing the soft shale.
Pressures can reach as high as 15,000 pounds per square inch (100 Mpa) and
injection rates can be as high as 265 liters per minute. Injected fluid is recovered,
to some degree, and stored in surface containers. Do to the chemical additives,
this material is often toxic.
Fracturing Monitoring
Seismic monitoring is used to estimate how large the induced fractures are as well
as their orientation, resulting in a rough geometric map of the fracture. This
mapping helps to ensure that injected fluids are not leaked during progressive
lengthening of the fracture zone.
Fracturing monitoring also allows for the
identification of underground reservoir zones, where a shale deposit may expand
beyond the lateral bore hole.
Completion
This refers to the cessation of fracturing and the active recovery of liquid
petroleum. This process usually involves preparing the bottom of the well, running
piping, and cementing a casing. It is no different than the process that would be
used to pump liquid oil from traditional deposits. Additional fracturing may occur
at later dates in an effort to stimulate or enhance production in a slowing well.
Environment Impact
Environmental risks include air quality damage, migration of gases to the surface,
and groundwater contamination. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the Safe
Drinking Water Act to exclude the chemical and fluids used in fracking from EPA
jurisdiction. There have been claims of water contamination due to fracturing in
Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Louisiana.
The EPA has jurisdiction over waste disposal of any fluids recovered from fracking
and brought to the surface. They have limited authority over those fluids that
remain in the ground. A leak from a surface containment facility is within EPA
jurisdiction, but a leak in the underground borehole may not be.
Peak Oil

Peak oil is a term that applies to the point when global petroleum extraction is at its
maximum. The key here is the term extraction. Peak does not mean that the
majority of oil resources have been used, but rather means that the rate at which
petroleum can be extracted has reached a maximum. A number of factors
contribute to a reduction in the speed with which oil can be produced. Peak oil
production also implies that demand cannot be met by increasing production, which
leads to higher prices.
Hubbert Curve
The concept of global peak oil is based on observations of similar trends in
individual wells. The rate of production of individual wells grows exponentially from
discovery until a peak is reached, at which point production steadily, and sometimes
swiftly, declines. Peak oil production on a global scale is often expressed as a
Hubbert curve.
The Hubbert curve is named after M. King Hubbert who was the first, in 1956, to
accurately predict peak oil production in the United States. He developed a logistic
model that took into account market factors, technological advancement, estimated
reserves, and production rates to predict peak production not oil for oil, but for
many other limited resources. He found that limited resources follow a logistic
distribution curve in which production generally outpaces demand until reaching
peak, at which point production falls regardless of demand.
Global Peak Oil
Current estimates based on the Hubbert model indicate that world peak oil will take
place in roughly 2020. Several different factors have lead to this conclusion
including global demand/supply and production technology.
Demand
Demand for petroleum comes from multiple commercial, industrial and residential
sectors, though none so much as the transportation industry. Transportation
accounts for nearly 70% of all oil consumption globally, which in 2007 reached a
high of 85.6 million barrels per day. The largest growth in demand is from
developing countries, but the largest consumers of oil are industrial nations. The
United States consumed roughly 21 million barrels of oil in 2007.
Discoveries
Former chairmen from Exxon Mobile and Shell Oil have both expressed concern that
easy to extract oil and gas deposits have been exhausted and that future finds will
require exploration of more challenging environments.
Peak oil field discovery occurred in 1965, and has, following the Hubbert curve,
dropped off predictably. The discovery rate in 1965 was 55 billion barrels per year.

Today the rate is less than 10 billion barrels per year. In 1980, production
surpassed discovery for the first time.
Production
At the point in time when peak oil occurs, production becomes the bottleneck to
supply and demand for petroleum. Due to population growth, peak oil production
per capita has already occurred, though use of petroleum is not evenly distributed
among individuals. In the last decade, investment by oil companies in difficult to
reach deposits has become a clear signal that peak either has been reached or is
near.
Globally, of the largest 21 oil fields, 9 are in decline. Production from these fields is
decreasing at a rate of 8% per year. Current estimates put the global rate of decline
of the largest 811 oil fields at 6.75 per year. In 2007, Saudi Arabia, the worlds
largest oil producer, was unable to increase production to counter rising oil prices, a
sign that major suppliers are operating at or near peak capacity.
Timing of the Peak
In 2005, worldwide production of oil reached its peak and produced a surplus of oil
in the supply and demand scheme. In 2010, the US militarys Joint Forces
Command warned that by 2012, the surplus would disappear and that by 2015
there could be a deficit in production of as much as 10 million barrels per day. The
concern, on the part of the military, is the reduced supply would result in stagnation
of economic growth and an exacerbation of unresolved tensions. Not everyone
agrees with this prediction however.
The Hubbert model, and Hubbert himself, predicted in 1974 that peak oil would
occur in 1995 based on then current trends. A decrease in consumption, due
primarily to the introduction of energy-efficient cars in the 1990s, resulted in a shift
in that prediction to 2020.
Determining peak oil will only be possible in retrospect, but predictions suffice to
spur investment in alternative energies and increase conservation efforts. While
some experts predict that peak oil has or is occurring, other believe that enhanced
production and conservation efforts mean that oil supply will remain consistent for
the next 100 years. What is important to note, however, is that retrospective
resolution of the problems that peak will cause will be difficult, if not impossible.
Early, preemptive intervention will be more successful and maintain global stability.
This is the reason many experts insist that measures be taken now to reduce
dependence on oil and move to more sustainable forms of energy.
Petroleum Reserves

Petroleum reserves are any quantity of petroleum that is commercially recoverable.

In order to be considered a reserve, a given deposit of petroleum must satisfy four
criteria:
1. Discovered through an exploratory well. In other words, drilling must be
performed to prove recoverability.
2. Must be recoverable using existing technology
3. Must be commercially viable, meaning the petroleum can be extracted at a
profit and not a loss
4. Must still be in the ground
Petroleum reserves fall into four different categories based on how certain it is the
petroleum can be recovered and how a given deposit of oil factors into a nations
security planning. Petroleum reserves, while resting in specific countries, are
considered global resources as the impact of oil is global.
Proven Reserves
A proven reserve is one in which there is 90% certainty that the petroleum is
recoverable. To determine the recoverability of a given reserve geologic,
economic, and political conditions are all taken into account. Such proven reserves
are referred to as P90 in the industry, meaning they have a 90% chance of being
produced.
Proven reserves can be sub-classified as either proven developed (PD) or proven
undeveloped (PUD). PD simply means that wells have already been drilled on these
reserves or that little additional investment is needed. PUD reserves require more
substantial investment in order to make them productive.
The five largest proven oil reserves lie in Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, and
Kuwait. While the largest quantities of oil are found in the Middle East, when
divided by country, Canada has the second largest number of proven reserves at
roughly 19 to 20% of global total. The United States ranks fourteenth and the
United Kingdom at thirty.
Unproven Reserves
Unproven reserves are geologically equivalent to proven reserves. Their unproven
status rests on technical, regulatory, or political issues. This is an example of the
global criteria used to classify a reserve. If the reserve is producing oil, but is being
used only internally by a country due to political or contractual issues, then it is
classified as unproven. If that same well were to begin producing oil for global
consumption, it would then be classified as proven.

Unproven reserves fall into two categories: probable and possible. A probable
reserve is the same as a P50 reserve in industry jargon, which simply means there
is a 50% chance of recovering oil from the reserve. A possible reserve is also called
a P10 reserve. P10 reserves generally receive their designation for technical or
economic concerns and not for political reasons.
Strategic Reserves
Strategic reserves are government-controlled oil stockpiles maintained to protect
a countrys economy and national security. Countries that maintain reserves fall into
two categories: those that belong to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and
those that do not.
IEA members are required to keep a reserve equal to 90 days of the prior years net
oil imports, unless the country is a net exporter, such as Canada. Many of these
countries have emergency oil sharing agreements that provide for oil bartering
during times of emergency or disaster. Countries in the IEA include the United
States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Germany, and Japan. China
is not a member or the IEA, but maintains a strategic reserve that is planned to
equal 90 days of supply by 2020.
Resources
In 2007, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) adopted new evaluation criteria
for classifying reserves. The term reserve was replaced by resource. The new
criteria add categories for contingent and prospective resources in addition to the
standards discussed above.
Contingent reserves are those that are potentially recoverable, but for which
commercial development is not yet feasible due to one or more contingencies.
This includes reserves for which the market has not yet matured (meaning the price
of extraction is not offset by current market prices of oil) and reserves that depend
on recovery technology that is still under development.
Prospective reserves are complicated. They can generally be defined as locations
where there is an estimated chance of discovery and development, but for which no
actual discovery of oil (no wells drilled) has occurred. Many offshore reserves are
could be considered prospective.
Unconventional Resources
A final classification is unconventional resources. It also was introduced in 2007 by
the SPE. This classification includes petroleum accumulations that require
specialized technology to extract, as opposed to wells, in addition to significant
processing and investment prior to sales. This includes resources such as extra
heavy oil and shale. The total amount of unconventional resources is thought to be

substantially greater than conventional, but they are harder to recover and more
expensive to develop.
Location and Extraction
Locating Oil Deposits
When it comes to finding oil, geologists are the ones responsible. Geologists use
their knowledge of rock formations in order to find the right conditions for an oil
trap. In years past, geologists were forced to interpret surface features, surface
rock, soil types, and occasionally core samples obtained by shallow drilling in order
to predict the location of oil deposits. While modern geologists also examine surface
rocks and terrain, they are aided by technology such as satellite imaging, sonar,
and seismology when prospecting for oil. They even attempt to measure small
changes in the earths gravitational and magnetic fields that could indicate that oil
is flowing under the surface.
Most commonly, geologists apply seismology for oil location. In this method, shock
waves are created that pass through rock layers and are then reflected back to the
surface where they are measured using seismic equipment. In some ways, this is
similar to the way sonar maps surface structures. The basic premise of the
seismological technique is that the numbers of sound waves reflected and the speed
at which they travel are affected by the density of rock layers through which they
must pass. Oil deposits will reflect sound waves differently than solid rock.
While seismic methods are preferred to magnetometers and gravimeters for oil
exploration, there is use for these tools. In the case of magnetometers, the shape
of oil basins and potential oil faults can be mapped. Occasionally, hydrocarbons will
find their way through fractures in the ground to near the surface. Bacteria that
feast on oil will, in some cases, produce magnetite by eating this surface oil. This
will create subtle changes in the Earths magnetic fields at those locations, which
can be mapped using magnetometers.
Drilling and Extraction
Once a potential oil deposit is located, a development plan is created. A
development plan considers whether the oil deposit is more liquid or solid and how
economically feasible it will be to extract oil from the location. It was once the case
that test drilling was a common practice. However, due to the cost of drilling a
single well, particularly in deep water, and improved techniques for assessment,
test wells are seldom drilled now. If a well is drilled, it is because the deposit is
almost guaranteed to produce oil. The cost of a single deep water oil or gas well can
cost in excess of 50 million USD just to drill.
It was also once the case that oil wells could be expected to produce oil on their
own due to natural pressure. Most natural pressure wells have been found though,
so now it is common to drill multiple holes into a single well. Some of the holes will
be used for extraction and some will be used to pump water, chemicals, and

pressurized steam into the well to aid in extraction. While extraction has become a
rather complicated process and relies on a number of technologies, the basic steps
are still as follows:
Primary Extraction
In the primary recovery stage, reservoir drive comes from natural mechanisms.
Reservoir drive simply refers to the factors that move oil out of a well to the surface
once drilling has occurred. Natural reservoir drives include natural gas expansion,
gravity drainage of oil from upper parts of a well to lower parts, and displacement
of oil by water. For todays wells, primary recovery accounts for 5-15% of the total
amount of petroleum contained within a given deposit.
Secondary Extraction
As wells age, their natural pressures fall. Once the pressure is too low to force oil to
the surface, extraction moves into secondary recovery. Secondary recovery
depends on mechanical methods to increase pressure in the well. Often times this
takes the form of injecting liquids or other material such as natural gas, carbon
dioxide, or air into the well to increase pressure.
Pumps are also used in secondary extraction. Because they are prone to problems
and are more expensive to operate, submersible pumps are avoided if possible.
Most people will be familiar with a pumpjack, which is often mistakenly referred to
as an oil derrick. Pumpjacks are alternatively called pumping units, horse head
pumps, beam pumps, and thirsty bird pumps. They are composed of a walking
beam that is balanced atop a triangular apparatus. One end of the beam is attached
to a motor-driven crank and the other end is attached to a pushrod that extends
into the oil well.
Recovery through water injection is usually about 30% of a wells total output. The
total recovery from a well after primary and secondary stages is usually between 35
and 45% of the total contained. Note that this is not a fraction of the total amount
that will be extracted. Rather, it is a fraction of the total amount in the well. The
amount of petroleum extracted from a well is usually 50 to 60% of the total
deposit.
Tertiary Extraction
In the final stage of extraction, methods intended to increase liquidity of the oil are
applied. At this stage, heat and chemicals become necessary.
Some of the principle methods used in tertiary extraction are called thermally
enhanced oil recovery or TEOR. In these methods, heat is applied to make the oil
flow better. Steam is the most common method of heating oil, but burning is used
as well.

Chemicals called surfactants are also used in tertiary extraction. They decrease
surface tension of oil, which helps it flow. Surface tension can be thought of in this
case as the attraction of hydrocarbons for one another. Solids have greater
attractive forces between molecules that make them up than do liquids. Liquids, in
turn, have greater attractive forces between molecules than do gases. By
decreasing intermolecular attractions, surfactants help to decrease the viscosity of
oil. Surfactants are often used in combination with TEOR.
Occasionally, oil-eating bacteria are also used in tertiary recovery. Bacteria that eat
petroleum often have appetites only for hydrocarbons of a certain length. If
bacteria are used that break larger hydrocarbons into smaller ones, then they will
assist in making the oil less viscous since larger molecules tend toward the solid
end of the spectrum. Bacterial injection can be more economical than other
recovery methods and also more environmentally friendly. This technique is
currently incentivized in places like Texas in an effort to increase its use.
In the last section it was mentioned that total recovery from a well is a maximum of
60% of the available petroleum. Tertiary recovery accounts for only 5 to 15% of
this. The reason that 100% of the oil is not extracted is that energy returned on
energy invested, or EROEI, usually means it is not economical. When the amount of
energy that must be used to extract petroleum exceeds that amount of energy that
can be gained from utilizing that petroleum, it no longer makes sense to continue
extraction efforts. The cutoff for EROEI on most wells is around 50 to 60% of the
total petroleum in the deposit
Oil Well Drilling
The oil well has a long history that dates back to at least 347 CE. The Chinese and
Japanese were the first to drill for oil, which they used primarily to produce salt and
to use in lamps. In Japan, petroleum was known as burning water. Early wells in
Asia were drilled using bamboo and extensive systems of bamboo pipes and storage
tanks were devised to maintain constant supplies
In current times, drilling relies on the oil rig. An oil rig is a mobile, self-powered
conglomeration of tools used in drilling. The components of an oil rig can be divided
into six major categories.
1. Power System Diesel motors are generally used to create electricity in
generators. Electricity is then used to power everything else on the rig,
including the drills.
2. Derrick This is the support structure that holds the drilling apparatus.
These have to be tall enough to allow new sections of drill pipe to be added
to the drill as other sections sink below the ground surface. Standard derricks
can accommodate up to three section of 10 meter long pipe. Some can
accommodate four.
3. Mechanical system

Hoisting components are used for moving about the heavy pipe and
controlling the drill angle

Rotating components can be broken down into three sections.

1. The turntable or rotary table drives the rotating motion of the
drill.
2. The drill string is comprised of 30 foot sections of pipe to which
the drill itself is attached
3. Drill bits come in many materials including tungsten carbide and
diamond for cutting through tough rock layer. Drill bits are
exceptionally expensive.

4. Casing This is the large diameter concrete tubing that lines the drill hole
and prevents it from collapsing. These are usually poured on site, though
pre-poured versions are available.
5. Circulation System This system consists of apparatus to both pump water
into a drill hole and to extract it from the drill hole. Water is used to lubricate
and cool the drill bit as well as dissolve and carry away dirt and other debris.
Mud that is generated in this process is used in conjunction with the blowout
preventer to maintain downward pressure on the well.
6. Blowout preventer These are pressure release valves designed to seal drill
lines and relieve pressure when necessary to prevent oil from gushing from
the hole uncontrollably.
It is a common misconception that drilling occurs all in one step when in reality it
occurs in stages. In general, drilling is performed to a certain depth and then
cement casings are poured before drilling begins again. This repetition of drilling
and casing occurs several times to ensure the drill hole does not collapse and to
help prevent blowout. Blowout occurs when oil under pressure is ejected from the
bore hole. Periodic cessation also is necessary in order to remove mud and other
debris that has built up and may be required if rock type changes and a different
drill bit is needed.
When drilling crews get close to the depth at which oil is expected, they perform
the process known as completion. When the crew reaches completion depth, the
bottom of the drill hole is perforated using explosive charges. The final lengths of
piping are then pushed into the well and the Christmas tree is cemented to the top.
A Christmas tree is a multi-valved structure that resembles a Christmas tree and
which allows for the control of oil flow from the well.
The flow of oil in most wells needs to be started, usually through the addition of
acid or other chemicals that dissolve the rock in which the oil is trapped. Explosive

charges are also used to break apart rock layers and start the flow of oil. Once oil
begins to flow, the rig is removed and production and storage equipment are put
into place.
Blowout and Blowout Preventers
Blowout
When the offshore oil rig called the Deepwater Horizon began leaking oil into the
Gulf of Mexico, blowout preventers and their function became hot topics. Blowout is
not just a fear under water where pollution is the major concern. It is also
important when drilling on land, where the potential for fire and explosion is quite
high, especially in wells with large amounts of natural gas.
Blowout is nothing more than the uncontrolled expulsion of petroleum from a well.
In the early stages of oil extraction, it is quite common for petroleum to be under
pressure. This results from the fact that a fraction of nearly all petroleum reserves
is gas. Because gases expand, a great deal of pressure can be created in petroleum
reserves because they exist in confined and inflexible spaces. It is no somewhat like
the pressure created by blowing air into a balloon. The more gas there is (air in the
case of a balloon), the greater the pressure.
When a reserve is finally breached during drilling and there is an escape route for
the pressure, hydrocarbon is carried up the bore hole and ejected onto the surface.
Because the holes that are drilled to access a petroleum reserves are relatively
narrow and because there can be a great deal of pressure in a well, hydrocarbon
can be ejected up to 60 meters into the air. The more flammable hydrocarbons, like
methane and propane, can easily be ignited as a result of friction during blowout,
leading to fire and explosion. Underwater, the pressure can be enough to force oil
out of a well even at depths of over a kilometer. The Deepwater Horizon blowout,
which occurred in the Macondo Prospect oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, was the
largest underwater blowout in history. Eleven crew were killed in the explosion. The
well spilled an estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf each day and
was not repaired for over 3 months. Since that incident, blowout preventers have
been under intense scrutiny. However, no better device has been proposed and
standard blowout preventers are still being used. Many underwater drilling
operations use more than one blowout preventer after the Deepwater Horizon
accident.
Blowout Prevention
While not full proof, blowout preventers can help to stop blowout from occurring
and have made drilling for petroleum safer and more environmentally friendly.
Blowout preventers are often abbreviated as BOPs (pronounced B-O-P and not as
'bops' in the industry).
BOPs are mechanical devices and come in two basic types: ram and annular.
Modern BOPs often use both mechanisms in tandem to help ensure the reliability of

the system. In fact, most BOPs are constructed of at least one annular blowout
mechanism atop several ram style mechanisms.
Ram Style Blowout Preventers
Ram blowout preventers were the first to be invented in 1922. Original ram BOPs
were not intended to completely seal a well, but rather were intended to reduce the
flow of oil to a manageable rate and allow time for capping. The ram BOP is based
on the principle of a gate valve and uses two pairs of opposing steal plungers called
rams, to restrict flow. The mechanism is simple, when pressure in the well moves
from downward (into the well) to upward (out of the well) the rams slam shut like
gates and slow or stop the flow of oil. Original rams, called pipe rams, simply sealed
off the flow of petroleum around the drill pipe, but did nothing to prevent the flow
through the pipe.
Modern ram BOPs use shear rams, which can cut through the drill pipe to
completely stop the flow of oil. These ram BOPs rely upon hydraulic systems to
provide the force needed to cut through strong metal drill pipe and drill string. To
allow for recovery of expensive drill bits, most modern ram BOPs consist of both a
shear ram and a pipe ram. The shear ram sits on top of the pipe ram and cuts the
drill string to completely seal the well. Below that, the pipe ram is deployed at the
same time to capture the drill string and prevent it from falling into the bore hole.
This makes eventual recovery of the valuable bit feasible.
Annular Blowout Preventers
Annular BOPs were invented in 1952 and are often referred to as Hydrils after the
company that produced them. Annular BOPs use rubber seals to close around the
drill string and seal the well without cutting. This allows the drill string and bit to be
removed from the well while pressure is maintained and blowout prevented. These
BOPs work by forcing flexible rubber rings into tight wedges around the drill pipe
and string.
Annular BOPs are not as effective as ram BOPs in completely sealing a well. As
such, annular BOPs are often stacked on top of ram BOPs to provide several levels
of blowout prevention. Annular BOPs necessarily rely upon hydraulic pressure to
create and maintain their seals. In some cases, drilling can continue even when an
annular BOP has been deployed.
Heavy Oil Extraction Techniques
Heavy oil cannot easily be pumped for a variety of reasons relating to its viscosity,
density, and sometimes to its level of contamination with rock and other solid
debris. A multitude of different methods have been devised that aid in extraction of
heavy oil.

Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS)

CHOPS is a technique applied to both tertiary recovery of conventional oil as well as
to quasi primary production of oil sands and oil shale. CHOPS is really nothing
more than the idea that if sand filters are removed from pumping equipment and
sand is produced with oil, then the two can be separated above ground. The
technique has the advantage that removing sand from the well can also result in
enough space being created for oil to form small liquid pockets that are easily
produced. The system is called cold because not heat is injected to help liquefy
the petroleum, thereby saving on energy investment and improving EROEI.
CHOPS only recovers 5 -6% of the oil in a given reservoir, but it is cheap to
implement. Disposal of the sand, which is contaminated with petroleum, is a serious
drawback to this method. Some locations use oily sand in road construction, but
this poses problems as well. Currently, most sand is disposed of in underground salt
caverns.
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)
The use of steam in oil recovery has been going on since the 1950s, with steam
assisted gravity drainage being developed in the 1980s to aid in the removal of oil
from the Alberta Oil Sands in Canada. SAGD relies on the advent of horizontal
drilling, which allows two horizontal wells to be drilled parallel to one another, with
one well sitting approximately 5 meters above the other. Steam is injected into the
upper well, sometimes along with chemical solvents, and heats the crude to
increase its liquidity. The liquid crude then flows with the assistance of gravity to
the lower well where it is collected and pumped to the surface. The upper well is
often referred to as the steam chamber.
There are several benefits to SAGD, the first of which is that it is highly efficient,
allowing for up to 60% of total reserve to be processed on average and as much as
70 to 80% in some cases. Beyond production efficiency, SAGD also helps in
contaminant removal. Because contaminants like hydrogen sulfide, methane, and
carbon dioxide are light, they rise with the steam while the oil falls due to its
greater density. The result is underground removal of a large portion of
contaminants that are common in heavy oil deposits.
The major disadvantage to SAGD is the high cost of steam generation. Water supply
is also an issue in this technique as it must be recycled and processed in order to
remove contaminants and prevent pollution. Opponents of this method of oil
recovery worry that its reliance on water from nearby streams and lakes will result
in depletion and that leaking my contaminate aquifers.
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
CSS is an older technique and the precursor to SAGD. In this method, steam is
injected into a vertical well for a period of weeks or even months. The well is then
allowed to sit while the petroleum is liquefied from the heat. Finally, the hot oil is

pumped out of the well for as long as possible before the procedure is repeated
again. This process, sometimes called huff-and-puff, will be repeated until the oil
returned is not longer enough to offset the investment in energy to create steam.
Roughly 25% of total reserve can be processed with this technique.
Vapor Extraction (VAPEX)
VAPEX is like SAGD, but solvents are used instead of steam. It is more efficient in
terms of energy used than is SAGD. It is often used in conjunction with SAGD
and/or CSS.
Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI)
This is the newest heavy oil extraction process on the market and is used in
horizontal wells. In THAI, air is injected into a well at the toe. The toe is the
farthest end from the surface bore hole. With air now introduced into the reservoir,
a fire can be ignited, which will burn the heavier oil components and even upgrade
some bitumen into lighter oil. Because the air was injected at the toe, the fire burns
toward the open end of the well, hence the name toe-to-heel. Because the amount
of oxygen in the well is limited to that which is introduced, the fire is self-limiting,
burning out when all the injected oxygen as been used.
THAI is purported to use less freshwater than other extraction methods like SAGD
and also produces less greenhouse gas emissions (mostly methane and carbon
dioxide). The reduction in greenhouse gases is on the order of 50%. The process is
also said to have less surface impact due to a smaller footprint, which basically
means less equipment is need and thus less land must be utilized.
Open-Pit Mining
Open-pit mining is the least popular and most expensive form of petroleum
recovery. It is only used in extremely sandy, tar-rich deposits. This form of mining
is exceptionally damaging to the environment because it has the largest footprint,
creates the most greenhouse gases, leads to water pollution, and requires that a
great deal of energy be invested for the return. Open-pit mining is traditionally used
in the recovery of metal ore and diamonds.
Hydraulic Fracturing
This technique is somewhat new and is treated in a separate section as it is used
primarily in the removal of solid petroleum, such as oil shale, in lieu of surface
mining. The process basically consists of horizontal well drilling followed by water
and chemical injection to break apart and dissolve sandstone in an effort to release
petroleum. It often combines components from SAGD, VAPEX, and THAI.
Oil Tanker

Oil tankers were once the only means of transporting petroleum. Even petroleum
that needed to be transported across land was often loaded onto an oil tanker and
shipped via water channel to a port close to its destination. However, during World
War II, a great number of oil tankers were sunk by German U-boats in an effort to
disrupt supply to Ally forces. These events led to cooperation between governments
and private industry to install pipelines as alternative means of transportation.
Oil tankers are generally divided into two basic types. Crude tankers transport
crude oil while product tankers transport refined product. In general, crude tankers
are substantially larger than product tankers.
Tanker Size
In 1954, something called the average freight rate assessment (AFRA) system was
developed by Shell Oil as a means to classify tankers of different sizes. Under the
AFRA, tankers are rated according to their dead weight (DWT). DWT, which is
expressed in metric tons, is defined as the maximum load by weight that a tanker
can safely carry. The AFRA scale divides oil tankers into six classes as follows:

General purpose tanker (10,000 -24,999 DWT)

Medium range tanker (25,000 -44,999 DWT)

Large range 1 (45,000 -79,999)

Large range 2 (80,000 -159,999)

Very large crude carrier (160,000 -319,999)

Ultra large crude carrier (320,000 -549,999) so-called supertankers

Ultra large crude carriers are capable of transporting over two million barrels of oil,
which was roughly enough to supply the United Kingdom for a single day in 2005.
Supertankers are so large that they cannot enter most ports fully loaded. Instead,
they load and unload cargo at offshore platforms. Many supertankers stay at sea for
greater than 70 days at a time.
The largest oil tankers ever built were 379 m in length, 68 m wide, 34 m tall, and
had a capacity of over three million barrels of oil. The largest of these tankers, the
TI Asia and TI Africa, were both converted into floating petroleum containment
vessels when their operation and maintenance became too expensive.
Hull Design
Oil tankers are usually divided into 8 to 12 tanks, with each tank split into two or
three individual compartments. Tanks are separated from the hull of the ship and
are often separated from one another by a cofferdam. A cofferdam is nothing more

than a space left open between two bulkheads to provide protection from heat, fire,
and collision.
Tanker hulls can be single or double. Most modern tankers are double-hulled and all
single-hulled tankers are to be phased out by 2026. Double-hulled ships are easier
to ballast, easier to clean, and provide better protection in low impact collisions and
grounding. Nevertheless, there are drawbacks. Double-hulled ships are more
difficult to maintain and there is the potential risk of explosion if a vapor detection
system is not fitted to detect vapor that leaks into the space between hulls.
Safety Mechanisms
A great number of safety mechanisms are incorporated into oil tankers to prevent
explosion of flammable hydrocarbon vapors. The most common system of
preventing explosion is to introduce an inert gas, such as helium or argon, into the
oil tanks. This lowers the flammable limit of vapors, which is the minimum
concentration at which vapors can be ignited. It can be thought of a s a method of
diluting hydrocarbon vapors so that they are less likely to explode.
The most important safety measures on at any oil tanker are the established body
of rules known as best practices. These rules include standard international
maritime law. Rules limit the way oil can be loaded and unloaded, as well as how it
can be stored. It is important to note that whether oil is being transported, tanks
are being cleaned, or product is being loaded, the atmosphere within each tank is
carefully monitored to ensure that it is never capable of igniting hydrocarbon gas.
Cost
A general purpose tanker costs around 43 million USD while a supertanker can cost
upwards of 120 million USD. In recent years, the economics of shipping oil in
tankers has come into question. With crude becoming heavier, the volume that can
be shipped at any given time is lower. In addition, heavy crude provides less profit
overall, but shipping costs the same. Thus, it is becoming less economical to move
heavy crude over long distances.
Pipeline Transport
Pipelines are used to transport a number of substances including natural gas, fuels,
hydrogen, water, beverages, and petroleum. Most people are familiar with the Trans
Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), but may be less well acquainted with the other
55,000 miles of crude oil trunk lines running throughout the United States. This
number does not account for the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 miles of gathering
lines that connect oil production sites to main trunks. The Pan-European Oil
Pipeline, which is proposed to run from Romania to Italy, would connect with the
Transalpine Pipeline that continues to Germany. If the extension is completed, the
total length of the pipeline would reach 2608 kilometers.

Classification
Oil pipelines are generally divided into two basic sections called trunks and
gathering lines. Trunks range in size from 20 to 60 centimeters in diameter while
gathering lines range from 5 to 15 centimeters in diameter. Even at these large
diameters, it takes a substantial amount of force to propel oil through a pipeline.
Propulsion and Speed of Delivery
In general, oil is propelled through the use of centrifugal pumps. Pumps are located
at the originating station of the line and then at 30 to 160 kilometer intervals along
the line. The length of the pipeline, type oil being transported, capacity
requirements, and topography of the land all determine the spacing of the pumps.
Most pumps are driven by electric motors, but diesel engines or gas turbines may
be used on oaccasion. Computers are used to remotely control the pumps as well
as other aspects of pipeline operation.
Most pipelines are operated and monitored 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
They are capable of moving the oil at speeds of 5 to 13 kilometers per hour.
Transport speed depends upon the diameter of the pipe, the pressure under which
the oil is being transported, they topography of the terrain, and viscosity of the oil.
At average speeds, it takes 14 to 22 days to move oil from Huston, Texas to New
York City.
Product Flow
The particular type of crude oil that can be pumped through a given pipeline is
dependent on the characteristics of a line such as length and diameter. In general,
batch operation or sequencing is used to transport one refined product or crude oil
grade after another. The interface between two products is referred to as the
transmix, and it must be reprocessed before use.
Batch processing gets its name from the fact that different pipelines require
different batches or volumes of petroleum be transported at a given time. This is
done to reduce cost and to ensure that there is as little transmix as possible.
Cost
When oil prices fluctuate, pipeline operation prices do not. Regulatory systems have
been devised which prevent pipeline rates from fluctuating with oil prices. In
general, pipeline charges account for less than 3% of the price of fuel. These rates
are generally lower than any other mode of oil transportation.

Petroleum Industry (for info plz visit http://www.petroleum.co.uk/britishpetroleum

The petroleum industry is quite complicated. Part of what makes it so complicated

is the fact that most of the worlds oil supplies are control by state agencies and not
by private corporations. In fact, well over half of total world oil reserves are
controlled by state agencies in the Middle East. The somewhat complicated and
intertwined operations of these major industry players can make it difficult to
understand why the industry works as it does. To make it easier, the oil industry
can be subdivided into two major categories: National Oil Companies (NOCs) and
International Oil Companies (IOCs).
International Oil Companies
International Oil Companies include familiar names like ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch
Shell. These are publicly traded corporations that function like any other corporation
except that the product the deal in is petroleum. IOCs all have long histories that
generally date back to the late 19th century when they were formed. Most IOCs in
the United States arose from the break-up of Standard Oil, which was the dominant
oil corporation until 1911.
Several terms are often associated with IOCs. Supermajor is the most often used
and it refers to the 6 largest publicly traded oil companies in the world.
Supermajors have gone through many changes since the 1990s as a result of
mergers and acquisitions secondary to market forces, the introduction of NOCs (see
next), and depression in oil prices in the early 1990s. As a group, supermajors
control 6% of the worlds oil. Comparatively NOCs control 88% of the worlds oil.
The six supermajors are as follows.

Name

Location

Revenue (Billions
of Dollars)

Reserve Size in
Billions of
Barrels

ExxonMobil

Texas United States

383

72

Royal Dutch Shell

The Hague
Netherlands

368

20

BP/Amoco

London United
Kingdom

308

18

Total SA

Paris France

229

10.5

Chevron

California United

204

10.5

States

ConocoPhillips

Texas United States

198

8.3

Reserve size is not the only way to divide the industry. It seems that reserve size is
most often used in reference to NOCs while reserve size and industry segment are
both used to describe IOCs. The American Petroleum Institute divides the industry
into five categories based on function. These divisions help to explain why having
large petroleum reserves does not automatically translate into large revenues and
why the supermajors, despite their relatively small reserve sizes in comparison to
NOCs, dominate the market. The industry segments are:

Category

Function

Upstream

Exploration and development of crude

Downstream

Tankers, refineries, and consumers

Pipeline

Any hazardous pipeline, including petroleum, liquid CO2,

etc.

Marine

For transport by water of petroleum

Service and Supply

(General)

Equipment manufacturers, consulting firms, etc.

Most supermajors are referred to as vertically integrated. This means that

divisions of the company specialize in various segments of the industry like
upstream, downstream, and marine. While all supermajors participate in upstream
and downstream operations, some do not get involved in pipeline or marine
segments. Most have some involvement in service and supply.
The upstream segments of most supermajors are their primary income divisions.
For instance, Royal Dutch Shell make 2/3 of its profits from exploration and
development of crude. Because supermajors have been in the petroleum business
the longest, they have developed the necessary expertise to find and develop

crude. This makes them indispensible to the industry, even to NOCs. As a result of
market dominance in this segment, the supermajors do the majority of the
upstream work in the industry and thus derive most of their income from providing
these services both for their own oil reserves and to others.
Public Subsidy
It is briefly worth mentioning that the U.S. government provides large subsidies to
publicly owned oil companies, even those that are based in other countries. In fact,
this is not just true of the U.S. government, but is true of most governments which
do not operate nationally owned oil companies. In the U.S., the effective tax rate
for oil companies is 9%, well below the standard 25% corporate rate.
Many people have criticized governments for this practice and some politicians have
even suggested it be stopped. The situation is complicated, being made more so by
the fact that oil is of supreme importance to a nations national security.
Governments are reluctant to drive oil companies overseas for fear that they will
become even more dependent than they already are on foreign nations for oil.
Nation Oil Companies
State agencies are called National Oil Companies (NOC) and are set up much like
any International Oil Company (IOC). The major difference is that IOCs release
earnings reports and have stock holders. In the early history of oil, IOCs were the
major producers. In recent decades, NOCs have been organized in most countries
with large oil reserves. This trend has occurred for two reasons.
The first reason for the rise of NOCs is political change. Countries in which large oil
reserves can be found have slowly wrested away the rights of IOCs that initially
controlled the oil. Many military dictators in the Middle East have come to power in
part because of their support for NOCs, which promised to return oil income to the
people rather than seeing it go to IOCs. Of course, in many instances, these
promises were not followed through on.
The other reason for the rise of NOCs is the industrial progress. Many of the oil-rich
nations have leveraged their tremendous natural resources to negotiate profitable
contracts with IOCs for extraction and development. The creation of OPEC was a
direct response to the bargaining power of the IOCs. Like a giant union, OPEC has
allowed oil rich countries to put more pressure on IOCs to offer price concessions.
The development of their own means for extracting and refining oil has also allowed
NOCs to reduce their reliance on IOCs.
The top ten largest NOCs in the world, in terms of reserve size, are in the following
table. It is important to note that the numbers in the table below are for liquid
petroleum and do not include such things as extra heavy petroleum, oil shale, etc.
Most of these countries do not reveal earnings, so judging them based on income is
relatively difficult. However, comparing the size of their reserves to those of IOCs
should offer a rough estimate of their potential revenues.

Name

Location

Reserve Size in Billions

of Barrels

Saudi Armaco

Saudi Arabia Middle

East

303

National Iranian Oil

Company

Iran Middle East

300

Quatar Petroleum

Quatar Middle East

170

Iraq National Oil Company

Iraq Middle East

134

Petroleos de Venezuela

Venezuela South
America

129

Abu Dhabi National Oil

Company

Abu Dhabi Middle

East

126

Kuwait Petroleum
Corporation

Kuwait Middle East

111

Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation

Nigeria Africa

68

Libya NOC

Libya Africa

50

Sonatrach

Algeria - Africa

39

Alternatives to Petroleum

In 2008, the top 15 oil consuming nations used nearly 60 million barrels of oil per
day. The United States accounted for roughly 19,500,000 of that, followed by China
at 7,831,000. The worlds top oil producers in 2006, measured by barrels produced
per day, were Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States.
It is estimated that peak oil either has been reached, in 2006, or will be reached by
2020. Peak oil is the point when extraction of crude becomes increasingly more
difficult and costly. The result is high energy costs for everything from home
heating to transportation.
Roughly 90% of all vehicles in the world run on oil-derived products. This accounts
for roughly 70% of all petroleum used. In the United States, petroleum constitutes
40% of the nations total energy use, most of which goes to the transportation
industry. As fuel costs continue to rise, the infrastructure of modern society is being
threatened
Alternatives to the use of fossil fuels in general, and petroleum in particular, have
been sought for many reasons including the limited supply of readily accessible
reserves, national security, environmental impact, and profit.
As the primary use of petroleum is for transportation, replacing its use in that
setting has been the target of most investigations. The transportation industry
accounts for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions and is exceeded only by industrial
processes and electrical generation that rely upon coal. The retrieval, processing,
and distribution of fossil fuels accounts for another 11.3% of greenhouse gas
emissions. Alternatives to petroleum have included alcohol, solar, wind, hydrogen,
and biofuels.
The following table illustrates the energy densities of common fuels. When energy is
standardized by energy density, the amount of energy in a given volume, it is easier
to compare.

Item

Energy per Kilogram

Energy Per Liter

Gasoline

47.2 megajoules

34 megajoules

Diesel

45.4 megajoules

38.6 megajoules

Hydrogen

143 megajoules

5.6 megajoules

Uranium

20 terajoules

N/A

Coal

24 megajoules

20 megajoules

Lithium-ion battery

720 kilojoules

N/A

Gasohol (E10)

43 megajoules

33.18 megajoules

Gasohol (E85)

33.1 megajoules

25.6 megajoules

Biodiesel

42 megajoules

33 megajoules

Ethanol

30 megajoules

24 megajoules

Joule = The amount of energy expended in applying a force of one newton over a
distance of one meter. By example, one joule is the approximate amount of energy
required to lift a small apple one meter off of the ground. For a 1000 kg car to
acceleration from 0 to 100 km/hr requires approximately 365 kilojoules. That would
require 10 mL of gasoline or 67 mL of hydrogen from the above table.
Kilojoule = 1,000 joules
Megajoule = 1 million joules
Terajoule = 1 trillion joules

Alcohol Fuel
Alcohol based fuels are of interest for several reasons, but primarily because they
are easily produced and because they can be delivered and utilized much like
conventional fossil fuels. The major drawback to their implementation is that they

still produce greenhouse gases when burned, thought not at the same levels as
traditional fuels.
There are four alcohols primarily considered for fuel: methanol, ethanol, propanol,
and butanol. Methanol and ethanol are both relatively simple to produce and can
both be created from carbon dioxide, which could reduce their net contribution to
greenhouse emissions.
Any of these fuels are listed as biofuels if they are produced from feedstocks.
Ethanol is commonly produced from sugar cane, potato, and corn. There are some
concerns that relying on biofuels will lead to increased food prices.
Ethanol
Ethanol is currently mixed with gasoline in many cases because of its superior
octane. 100% ethanol has an octane rating of roughly 99. In testing, it has been
shown to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, particular, and nitrous oxide over
conventional fuels. E85 shows reductions in emission of all three contaminants from
12% to 25%.
In 2007, the world used roughly 52 billion liters of ethanol as fuel, primarily in the
United States and Brazil. Together, these two countries account for 88% of world
ethanol use for transportation. Brazil is the only country to support 100% ethanol
fuel vehicles. Brazil is able to use 100% ethanol because it is a warmer climate. In
colder locations, it can be difficult to achieve high enough vapor pressures to spark
ignition. This is why Europe and the U.S. have instituted the maximum for ethanol
fuels at E85 and some places will see seasonal reduction to E70.
There are several drawbacks to using ethanol. First, it is corrosive to plastics and
rubbers used in most cars. In order to use gasoline that contains more than 10%
ethanol, the rubber and plastic components of most vehicles must be upgraded to
resistant forms.
Another drawback of ethanol is its energy density. At 21.1 megajoules per liter, is
would require approximately 1.5 liters of ethanol to create the same energy as in a
liter of gasoline. It is often pointed out that because alcohol-fueled engines can be
more energy efficient, the cars can actually travel a greater distance on the same
volume of alcohol as they can gasoline. The reason for this is the high octane of
ethanol, which allows for engines with higher compression.
It is important to remember that the carbon dioxide emissions of the ethanol may
be lower when burned, but that on an energy per liter basis, ethanol produces 19%
more carbon dioxide for energy created than gasoline. In addition, total carbon
dioxide emissions starting with the production of food stocks results in much higher
greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fossil fuels.

It is estimated that the health costs to the citizens of the United States for burning
one billion gallons of gasoline amount to $469 million. For the same quantity of
ethanol, costs are estimated at somewhere between $472 million and $952 million
when produced from food stock (corn mostly) but at only $123 million to $208
million for cellulosic production (also depending on the type of cellulose used).
Butanol and Propanol
These two fuels are less toxic and less combustible than methanol. However,
producing them is more difficult. These alcohols are more energy dense than
ethanol and methanol and can be produced from cellulose and waste products of
agriculture. In fact, these alcohols could be produced from left over fiber after
sugar crops are harvested. In most cases, these alcohols are created by
fermentation with either yeast or bacteria.
The bacterium that is most often used is called Clostridium acetobutylicum. It turns
cellulose into alcohol, but smells awful. In addition, because some ethanol is
produced in the process, and these bacteria begin to die when ethanol reaches 7%,
their efficiency is rather poor. Yeast can survive up to 14% ethanol, but are more
difficult to grow in general.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is created through the transesterification of fat. In basic terms, animal fat
is mixed with vegetable oil and alcohol to produce biodiesel. Biodiesel comes in any
mix, but the four standards are 100% (B100), 20% (B20), 5% (B5), and 2% (B2).
Blends of 20% or less can be used in diesel equipment without modification. Over
20% and engines often require modification to maintain performance. Like
bioalcohols, biodiesel can corrode rubber in fuel lines and plastics in other locations.
As a result, engines should be modified prior to the use of biodiesel. Most
manufacturers currently produce diesel engines to run on biodiesel.
Advantages
Biodiesel has several advantages over petrodiesel, the first of which is that it is
renewable. It is also better for the environment in that it produces 57% less
greenhouse gas than standard petro diesel.
Biodiesel is actually a better lubricant and reduces fuel system wear in vehicles.
Until recently, it was cheaper than petrodiesel as well. Because it is not toxic,
biodiesel can be made on site, which is often the case on farms. This leads to
reduced costs for farmers.
Disadvantages
There are several disadvantages to biodiesel. In terms of utilization, it can gel at
low temperatures and it is prone to water contamination. Both gelling and water

contamination can lead to harder starting of engines by reducing the heat of

combustion. Water also promotes the growth of system clogging bacteria and can
cause pitting of the pistons within the engine. Both of these problems are relatively
easy to overcome.
Less simply solved is the problem of production. If all arable land in the U.S. were
devoted to biodiesel production, it would yield just enough to meet current demand.
That includes only vehicles that currently run on diesel and does not make room of
any growth in demand. This leaves no arable land for food production.
Currently, systems that utilize algae are being devised and may offer a solution to
the problem. Algae contain nearly 10 times the amount of oil per volume than
traditional sources. As it stands, biodiesel only accounts for about 1% of total diesel
consumption in the world. Recent changes in the petroleum markets have resulted
in biodiesel costing slightly more than petrodiesel.
Biofuel
Biofuel is any fuel in which the energy is derived from biological carbon fixation that
has occurred relatively recently. Biofuels include biomass derivatives, biogases, and
liquid fuels. Biofuels can be widely divided into bioalcohols, biodiesel, green diesel,
biogas, syngas, solid biofuels, and even vegetable oil. The previous all constitute
what are known as first generation biofuels because they are made from sugar,
starch, and vegetable oil. In other words, they are made from things that are part
of the food supply.
Second generation biofuels are made from sustainable organic material. In
general, this refers to any biological carbon that is not a part of the food supply.
Often this takes the form of cellulose or algae.
Bioalcohols
Alcohols like ethanol and butanol can only be considered biofuels if they were
produced through the process of fermentation, which involves either bacteria or
yeast. Ethanol is the most commonly used form of bioalcohol, but biobutanol is
gaining in favor because it can be used directly in gasoline engines without their
needing to be modified.
Ethanol can be used in engines so long as the percentage of fuel containing ethanol
remains at or below 15%. Above 15%, ethanol causes damage to rubber and
plastic components of cars such as fuel lines. In order to run higher percentages of
ethanol, vehicles must be modified.
Butanol has high net gains in terms of energy when compared to ethanol and is less
corrosive to engine components. DuPont and BP are currently working to develop
butanol as a viable alternative to gasoline.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel is more common in Europe than are bioalcohols. This is in part due to the
fact that Europe has historically had a higher adoption rate for diesel power vehicles
than has the U.S.
In general, biodiesel is less corrosive than the bioalcohols. Many manufactures
support the use of B100 (100% biodiesel) in their vehicles. In many countries, 5%
biodiesel is quite common.
Green diesel
This includes any diesel fuel derived from renewable resources such as canola oil or
algae. The real difference between green diesel and biodiesel is how they are
produced. Biodiesel is produce through fermentation or, more accurately,
transesterification. Green diesel is produced by fractional distillation, which is the
same process used to produce crude oils.
Biogas
Biogas is methane produced from fermentation. It is attractive in some respects
because it is produced as a byproduct of mechanical waste treatment and from
landfills. Thus, it is already available in some locales. Farmers often produce it from
manure.
Solid Biofuels
Things such as wood, sawdust, grass cuttings, and garbage, which can be directly
burned, are included in this category. These fuels, while releasing particulates, have
less environmental impact than fossil fuels.
Second Generation Biofuels
Any biofuel produced from sustainable feedstock will fit into this category. The basic
point is that food is not diverted from the food chain (animal or human) to produce
these fuels. Currently, bacteria and fungi are used to produce these fuels. The
recent discovery of a fungus in Patagonia that can produce diesel fuel from cellulose
has raised hopes that biodiesel could be produced without any reliance of
foodstocks and at relatively low cost.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the smallest of all atoms. It has the atomic number 1 and is the
lightest, most abundant chemical in the universe, making up roughly 75% of all
matter. In its molecular form, hydrogen is a gas, however most hydrogen on earth
is combined with oxygen to form water (H2O).

Hydrogen is highly flammable and will burn at concentrations ranging from 4 to

75% in air. It is used in the Space Shuttle main engine. The best way to compare
fuels in terms of the energy they deliver is to use energy density. This term
standardizes the amount of energy in a fuel for a given volume it contains.
Compressed hydrogen has an energy density of 143 megajoules per kilogram, but
only 5.6 megajoules per liter. Gasoline, on the other hand has 47.2 megajoules of
energy per kilogram, but 34 meagjoules per liter. Diesel is even more dramatic at
45.4 megajoules per kilogram and 38.6 per liter. Energy density is one of the
reasons hydrogen has not yet replaced hydrocarbon fuels.
Benefits and Use
One of the biggest advantages of hydrogen as a fuel is that burning it produces only
water. Burning hydrogen is a less efficient means of extracting energy than are
hydrogen fuel cells. Current fuel cells are roughly 60% efficient, though when heat
trapping features are included, they can reach 83% efficiency. Typical combustion
engines, whether burning hydrogen or petroleum are 25% efficient at a maximum.
Fuel cells are similar to batteries in many ways. The major difference between a
fuel cell and a battery is that the chemicals in a battery are finite while in a fuel
cell, constant supplies of hydrogen and oxygen are fed in. Other than that, the
principle is generally the same. Here is how a fuel cell works.
The cell is divided in half by an electrolyte. On one half of the cell, hydrogen gas is
injected. On the other side of the electrolyte, oxygen is injected. Only hydrogen can
cross the electrolyte, but when it does, its electron is removed. The remaining
proton travels across the electrolyte to where the oxygen is waiting. The electron,
on the other hand, is conducted through wiring where it does useful work as
electricity. Once it reaches the end of the wire, it combines with the proton and
oxygen to form water.
Drawbacks
There are several major drawbacks to the use of hydrogen as a fuel. The first is
economic, both fuel cells and standard internal combustion engines that burn
hydrogen are not predicted to be competitive in terms of price with standard fossil
fuels until well beyond 2040. Fuel cells are expensive to produce. Overall, electricity
generated from a fuel cell costs approximately $100 per kilowatt, compared to
$0.15 to $0.30 per kilowatt for standard fuels. Current goals are to have costs
down to $35 per kilowatt by 2020.
In addition to expense, there is no infrastructure in place for delivering hydrogen to
consumers, particularly for transportation. Hydrogen requires unique storage
conditions and is considerably more explosive than hydrocarbon fuels are. Most
nations would have to completely reinvent their fuel delivery infrastructures to
accommodate hydrogen.

Storage is also a major drawback of hydrogen. In its gas form, enough cannot be
stored to make it of practical use and it is also exceptionally flammable. In liquid
form, hydrogen is much less explosive. However, creating liquid hydrogen requires
cooling it in cryogenic tanks or compressing it. While the energy per ass is three
times that of gasoline, current technology only allows liquid hydrogen to carry one
sixth of the energy per liter than standard gasoline. Some research has been
performed on special crystalline storage materials, but they are expensive.
The biggest drawback to hydrogen, however, is production. There is little molecular
hydrogen on the planet, so most of it has to be produced by alternative means.
Ways Hydrogen Can be Generated
On an industrial scale, hydrogen can be produced in several different ways. The
most efficient of these is through removal from hydrocarbon. Often this is
accomplished through stream reforming of natural gas in which steam at 700
1100 C is reacted with methane to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas.
Currently, energy input is greater than energy gained for this process. In addition,
hydrocarbon fuel is needed to heat the water to create steam. Producing hydrogen
from fossil fuels does not solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions and does
not end societys reliance on fossil fuels.
Thermochemical techniques use heat cycles and various metal combinations to
produce hydrogen from water without using electricity. Currently, solar is being
investigated in order to separate completely this production means from
hydrocarbons. Geothermal means have also been employed in a similar manner.
Iceland is the global leader in hydrogen production via geothermal processing.
Electrolysis is the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity.
Electricity must be produced through either conventional burning of fossil fuels or
through renewable means such as hydro, wind, or solar. A kilogram of hydrogen can
be produced by wind-powered electrolysis for approximately $5.55 per gallon,
making this a viable method if enough wind can be harnessed and the problems
listed above can be overcome.
Solar Energy
The sun burns hydrogen to produce helium via nuclear fusion, releasing fast
amounts of energy. That energy reaches Earth in the forms of ultraviolet light,
visible light (the light we see), and infrared light (heat), all of which we term solar
energy. Harnessing energy from the sun relies on conversion of those forms of
energy into either heat or electricity.
The benefits of solar energy are that it does produce air pollutants, it does not
contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and it has a minimal impact on the
environment. The limitations to solar are that the sun does not shine all hours of

the day, a large surface area is needed to collect adequate amounts of light, and
storage of the energy for use during dark times can be difficult.
The sun provides approximately 12,180,000,000,000,000 kilowatts (that is 12, 180
trillion kilowatts) of power to the Earths surface every year. By contrast the world
consumes about 15,000,000,000 (15 trillion) kilowatts of power each year. Those
are staggering numbers. Put into perspective, the sun provides enough energy in
one hour to supply the energy needs of the whole of humanity for an entire year.
The problem, however, is that the energy does not fall on all parts of the Earth
equally and the surface area over which it falls is about one half of the surface area
of the Earth, a huge amount of space. When broken down by square meter, this
amounts to approximately 1000 to 1300 watts per square meter (~1.15 kilowatts
per square meter). Locations closer to the equator are above this average and
locations further away are below. The average home consumes 9000 kilowatt-hours
of electricity in a year.
Advantages
Solar has the primary advantage of being 100% renewable and producing no
emissions of any type.
Disadvantages
In comparison to the advantages section, this will be quite a bit longer. In reality,
the disadvantages of solar are better looked at as limitations. They do not prevent
the energy from being used or detract from its benefits. Rather, the limitations on
solar energy are simply inherent with the technology.
The largest disadvantage of solar is that the sun does not always shine. Whether at
night, in a cloudy environment, or during the short days of winter, obtaining solar at
the times when it is needed necessarily means having a storage system. At the
moment, storage systems are the major inhibitors of solar energy. Batteries are too
limited in their capabilities to provide long-term storage for homes and are too
bulky to be used in automobiles. Other methods of storage rely on thermal means,
such as heating water or salt solutions. The heat is then later converted into
electricity.
Solar also suffers from the fact that photovoltaic panels are inefficient and
expensive. Large installations for stationary applications are manageable in climates
where there is enough sun. However, installing enough panels to power an entire
car, even in full sunlight, can be difficult or impossible. At average efficiencies, solar
panel arrays can produce roughly 2.6 horsepower.
When considering the environmental impact and cost of solar cars, it is important to
remember that solar panels are expensive to produce and rely on elements like
silicon and phosphorus, which have to be mined. In addition, solar panels have

limited life spans of approximately 30 years, after which point they must be
replaced.
Wind Power
Wind power is clearly only an alternative to fossil fuels for stationary use. It cannot
be used to replace fossil fuels in transportation expect if used to generate electricity
for electric vehicles. In 2010, wind accounted for roughly 2.5% of the worldwide
electricity capacity, though some countries have achieved much higher adoption
rates.

Denmark 21%

Portugal 18%

Spain 16%

Ireland 14%

Germany 9%

Advantages
The advantages of wind are clear from the environmental standpoint. It produces
no air pollution and requires that no fuel be burned. Though there were initial
reports that birds are greatly affected by turbines, no study has shown that wind
turbines produce any more fatalities than do other manmade structures. While it
does require energy to build a wind turbine, the energy lost is recuperated after
less than a year of operation, making the energy returned on energy invested
calculation very favorable.
In terms of cost, the installation of turbines can be expensive but the overall
generation of power is only
3.2 pence per kilowatt hour for onshore production. This is highly competitive with
traditional sources of energy generation.
Disadvantages
The biggest disadvantage to wind is that it is variable and intermittent. It cannot be
relied upon for steady power or to meet unexpected spikes in usage. Current
solutions to this problem include grid management, alternative power supplies like
solar or traditional, and storage systems. Grid management refers to techniques
used to transfer power from one location to another as demand changes as well as
the ability to being additional power producing units online in the event of a surge
in demand.

As a full on alternative, the intermittency of wind makes it challenging. However,

studies have shown that it can be used to replace up to 20% of the capacity of any
system with jeopardizing constancy of the supply of electricity or the security of the
system.
Offshore production is also seen as a way to increase the reliability of wind in
certain locations. Offshore wind is often more consistent and more powerful than
onshore wind. As a result, the systems are more efficient and more reliable.
Northern Europe has the largest number of offshore wind farms and produced the
most power from them. The major drawbacks to offshore farms are maintenance
and the need to run high efficiency transmission wires. Conventional power grids
are not efficient enough to carry electricity over large distances.
Electric Vehicles
Electricity has been touted for many years as the best alternative to the use of
fossil fuels in transportation. Depending on how the electricity is produced, it can be
completely renewable or more damaging to the environment than directly burning
petroleum products.
Before looking at how electricity can be generated and the impact that each method
has on the greenness of an electric vehicle, it is important to understand the
design, advantages, and limitations of the vehicles themselves.
History
Electric cars were actually quite popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
At that time, electric cars had a number of advantages over internal combustion
driven vehicles. They were less noisy, had less vibration, and did not smell. Most
importantly, gear changing was not required, which as quite difficult at the time,
and they did not require manual cranks to start. The cars were most popular with
wealthy city dwellers. Advances in technology for internal combustion engines, such
as the electric starter, better transmissions, and growing petroleum infrastructure
soon displaced the electric car.
During the 1970s and1980s, when the energy crisis was under way, there was
renewed interest in electric vehicles. GM produced the EV1 and S10 EV pickup, Ford
produced the Ranger EV, and Honda the EV Plushhatchback. Many of these vehicles
were quickly abandoned when the energy crisis abated. All EV1 models were
actually taken back by GM and only a few still remain.
Now, in the 21st century, focus on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and
limited oil supplies have led to renewed interest in electric vehicles. However, the
limited research and scattered investments in electric technology in the past have
resulted in electric vehicles that are no more advanced than they were in the last
19th century. Below is a comparison of electric and petrol based cars in the
categories that are most important.

Fuel
Clearly, fuel is the largest factor. In petrol vehicles, it is relatively straightforward
that hydrocarbon is burned to produce energy. Hydrocarbons have the
disadvantages of creating pollution, being dangerous to extract, and been in the
increasingly limited supplies. On the plus side, hydrocarbon based fuels are easy to
transport, make refueling a quick and simple process, and are relatively
inexpensive.
Electric vehicles are somewhat more complicated. While they clearly run on
electricity, where and how the electricity is generated can affect how clean these
vehicles are and how much it costs to run them. In most cases, the cost of
electricity will be approximately half that of gasoline in cars driven over the same
distance.
When evaluating the potential for pollution, both the production of the fuel and the
utilization must be considered. The production of fossil fuels is inherently messy,
accident prone, and has a history of spills and other severe accidents that have led
to substantial environmental damage. Burning fossil fuels is known to put pollutants
such as sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to
acid rain. In addition, internal combustion engines are the second largest source of
greenhouse gas emissions, which are thought to lead to global warming.
In terms of pollution produced when energy is burned, electric vehicles are
considered zero emission. This means they produced no emissions at all and thus
no pollution. Their contribution to overall air pollution and global warming, however,
is impacted by how the electricity used to charge their batteries is generated.
Electricity derived from coal produces substantially more greenhouse gases and
contaminants like sulfur dioxide than does burning petroleum. Alternatively, the use
of energys like a wind, hydro, and solar can result in electric vehicles being truly
zero emission.
Range
Because refueling time is very rapid and the infrastructure for delivery of
hydrocarbon fuels is extensive, internal combustion engines or considered to have
indefinite range. Electric cars, on the other hand, are constrained by the fact that
recharging a battery can take several hours and theres very little infrastructure in
place for recharging. Under current technology, electric cars generally have less
maximum range per charge that internal combustion engines can achieve a single
fuel tank.
Some automakers have invested in batteries switch technology. The process is
actually cleaner and faster than filling a tank with gasoline and takes an average of
60 seconds. However, there are high investment costs in terms of infrastructure and
the unproven economics are of concern to many

In addition to batteries switch technology, theres also some interest in the DC Fast
Charging stations, which allow 100 mile batteries to be recharged to 80% of their
capacity inside of 30 minutes. This type of church and would be beneficial in places
where people commonly park their cars such as grocery stores and parking
garages.
Price
Electric cars are more expensive than most gasoline or diesel powered vehicles. The
most significant expense in any electric car is the battery. Because most buyers are
reluctant to purchase electric vehicles of the lack of infrastructure and general
assumption that range is too limited for electric vehicles to be practical, electric cars
cannot benefit from mass production and the economies of size as gasoline
powered vehicles do.
A survey by Nielsen for the financial times showed that 65% of Americans and 76%
of Britons were not willing to pay more for an electric vehicle above the price of a
gasoline car. Similar studies have shown that less than 50% of individuals are
willing to spend an additional $5000 on the green vehicle.
Maintenance
Electric vehicle motors have roughly 5 moving parts which makes them easy to
maintain compared to the hundreds of parts found in internal combustion engines.
The major maintenance costs in eclectic vehicles are batteries.
Besides the high initial expense, electric cars are actually cheaper to operate than
are gasoline powered cars. Nissan estimates that the Leaf, its electric car offering,
will cost about $1,800 to operate over 5 years compared to $6,000 for a gasoline
car. This, of course, does not include the purchase of a new battery. Tesla batteries
cost $12,000 are said to last for 7 years.
Conclusion
The electric vehicle has been hamstrung by lack of research and lack of investment
in infrastructure when compared to fossil fuels. In addition, there are several
technical issues that need to be overcome, such as the production and recycling of
batteries, range limitations, and cost that need to be overcome. The rising costs of
petroleum after peak oil mean that, eventually, electric cars will not only be
competitive with petrol vehicles, but will be less costly.

Petroleum Glossary
API

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is a

United States trade association that represents
400 corporations in the petroleum industry.

Abel tester

A closed-cup flash tester. Used to test the flash

point of kerosene and other distillates.

Acidity

The pH of an oil, which may or may not

influence the behavior of the oil, depending on
the exact mechanism of by which the pH is
achieved.

Air-Fuel Ratio

The ratio of air consumed to fuel consumed, by

weight, in an internal combustion engine or
other fuel-burning apparatus. Has impact on
performance and efficiency.

Aliphatic

Any hydrocarbon in chains. Includes the

alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes among many
others.

Alkanes

The largest class of hydrocarbons. These include

linear and branched chain molecules typically
used in the production of fuel.

Annular Blowout Preventer

Invented in 1952, these are often referred to as

Hydrils. These blowout preventers use a
rubber seals to close around the drill string and
seal the well.

API Gravity

The standard by which all crude oils are

measured. API gravity is used to determine the
specific gravity of crude oil and thus its density.

Lighter crudes are more valuable because they

are more easily refined into gasoline. Crude
with an API gravity of 10 is equivalent in density
to water.

Aromatic Hydrocarbon

Any hydrocarbon that contains a dream

structure in which all of the bonds are of
intermediate character between single and
double bonds. They are often referred to as 1.5
bonds.

Ash

Inorganic residue that remains from burning

combustible material. It is the same as ash that
remains after wood is burned.

Asphaltenes

Insoluble, semi-solid particles. They have a high

carbon to hydrogen ratio and are used in the
production of asphalt.

ASTM

American Society for Testing Materials. This is

the group that develops products for testing
grade of petroleum products.

Atomization characteristics

How well particular oil can be broken into fine

particles via mechanical means.

Barrel

A volume measure equal to 42 U.S. gallons or

approximately 160 liters.

Bbl

Abbreviation for barrel.

Benchmark Crude

Benchmark crude oils are used as references for

pricing oils. There are approximately 161
different benchmark oils, of which the main
three are West Texas Intermediate, Brent

Crude, and Dubai Crude.

Benzene

An aromatic hydrocarbon which is obtained

chiefly from coal tar. It is used as a solvent for
resins and in dye manufacture. It is one of the
top 10 chemicals produced by volume.

BHP

Brake horsepower or British Horsepower. This is

a standard measure of power output for
engines.

Biodiesel

Any diesel fuel that is created through the

transesterification of fat. Comes in various
mixtures of 100%, 20%, 5%, and 2%.

Biofuel

Any fuel that is derived from biological carbon

fixation that has occurred relatively recently.

Biogas

Methane produced from fermentation. Often

produced by farmers via fermentation of animal
waste and used to offset fuel costs.

Bitumen

Bitumen is the geological term that refers to the

sticky, highly viscous semi-solid hydrocarbon
present in most natural petroleum. It is
alternatively called pitch, resin, and asphaltum.

Blowout Preventer

A mechanical device designed to prevent oil

from escaping a well during the process of
drilling. Called BOP for short. Blowout
preventers come in two varieties: ram style and
annular. In general, both styles are combined
for added security. A single BOP usually
contains at least two annular BOPS and three or

more Ram BOPS

Bonny Light

This crude oil comes from Nigeria and has an

API gravity of 32.9. Its sulfur content is
0.16%.

Brent Crude

Named after a goose, this light, sweet crude

comes from the north sea. It has an API gravity
of 38.06 and a sulfur content of 0.37%.

British Petroleum

The former name of petroleum company

currently called BP. It is the third largest
publicly traded oil company in the world with oil
reserves up 18 billion barrels and the annual
revenues of $308,000,000,000. It is
headquartered in London, England.

BS & W

Bottom sediment and water is a reference to

how much water and sediment contamination is
in a reserve.

BS & W Monitor

An instrument that detects water in petroleum.

The monitor works through changes in the
capacitive reactance caused by changes to the
dielectric constant of the oil that are induced by
water.

BTU

British Thermal Unit. The amount of heat

required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of
water by 1 degree Fahrenheit.

Butanol

An alcohol based fuel that is considered to be

closer to gasoline than most others. Can be
used in engines without any alterations.

C/H Ratio

Carbon to Hydrogen ratio

Calorie

The amount of heat required to raise the

temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree
Celsius.

Carbon

The element with atomic number six. Carbon is

the basis of all life and is one of the primary
components of hydrocarbons used for fuel.

Catalyst

A compound that increases the speed with

which a chemical reaction occurs, but which
does not enter into the reaction. A catalyst can
be recovered after a reaction is over and
reused.

Celsius

Alternative to the term Centigrade below that

references physicist Anders Celsius who
developed the temperature scale, which sets
the freezing point of water at 0 and the boiling
point at 100.

Centigrade

Temperature scale in which 0 is the point for

water freezing and 100 the point at which water
boils. Abbreviated with a capital C.

Chevron Corporation

The fifth largest publicly traded oil company in

the world. It has oil reserves of 10.5 billion
barrels and revenue of $204,000,000,000. It is
headquartered in California.

Cloud Point

Temperature at which wax begins to and form a

solid in a fuel.

Cold Heavy Oil Production with

In this process sand filters are removed from

Sand (CHOPS)

pumping equipment and sand is produced along

with oil. The two are then separated above
ground. In general, CHOPS is capable of
recovering a 5 to 6% of oil in a given a well.

ConocoPhillips

The sixth largest publicly traded oil company in

the world with oil reserves of 8.3 billion barrels
and revenue of $198,000,000,000. It is
headquartered in Huston Texas.

Corrosion

The oxidation or destruction of a component.

This is particularly troublesome in oil pipelines
and tankers in which the metal is damaged by
contaminants within the oil.

Cracking

The process in refining oil in which larger

hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller
components.

Cutter stock

Light petroleum used to reduce viscosity of

heavier oil. These are used to cut heavy oil in
order to make it easier to transport.

Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)

Steam is injected into a vertical well for several

weeks or even months in order to liquefy the
petroleum. Oil is then pumped for as long as
possible before the procedure is repeated again.
It is sometimes referred to as huff and puff.

Density

Mass of a unit of volume. It is often expressed

as mg/L.

Detonation

In an engine, this is the combustion of the fuel

after spark occurs. It produces a characteristic

metallic sound, or knock.

Diesel index

Obtained by multiplying the API gravity by the

aniline point (the temperature at which a
chemical called aniline and diesel mix) of a
Diesel fuel, divided by 100. It indicates the
quality of the fuel.

Distillation

The process of heating a liquid to the boiling

point, then allowing it to condense in order to
collect molecules of different sizes.

Doctor test

A qualitative method of determining whether oil

is "sour" or "sweet".

Double Hull

An oil tanker with two hulls. These are generally

considered to be safer in the event that the
tanker runs aground.

Dubai Crude

This is a light and sour crude with and API

gravity of 31. Its sulfur content is 2%.

E85

Automobile fuel in which 85% is ethanol.

Emulsion

A liquid mixture of two or more liquid

substances that do not dissolve in one another.
One liquid is held in suspension, as in many
salad dressings

Ethanol

The most common alcohol based fuel. It comes

in various dilutions of 100%, 85%, 70%, and
15%.

Extraction

The removal of oil from a well. The total amount

of oil that can be recovered from most wells is

in the range of 60%.

Extra-heavy Crude

Crude oil with an API gravity of less than 10.

The oil sinks in water.

ExxonMobil

The largest of the Supermajors publicly traded

oil companies. It has reserves of 72 billion
barrels of oil and revenue of over
$383,000,000,000. It is headquartered in
Huston, Texas.

Fahrenheit

Temperature scale in which 32 is set as the

freezing point of water and 212 as the boiling
point. Generally only used in the United States.
Conversion to Fahrenheit from Celsius: F =
9/5C + 32, where C is the temperature in
Celsius.

Flash Point

The lowest temperature at which a liquid will

generate sufficient vapor to ignite.

Fossil fuel

Fuels formed by natural processes such as

anaerobic decomposition of dead and buried
organisms. Also fuels include coal, petroleum,
and natural gas.

Fraction

A separate identifiable part of crude oil.

Gasoline and kerosene are two different
fractions of crude.

Fuel oil

The heavy distillates of the oil refining process.

Generally used for power stations and in large
ship boilers. Contains a high degree of
contaminant and produce a great deal of

pollution.

Fungible

Refers to petroleum products which can be

transport in a pipeline in succession, one after
the other, without need for space between
them.

Global warming

The continuing rise in the average temperature

of Earths atmosphere and oceans.

Green Diesel

Diesel fuel derived for renewable resources, but

which is produced for a standard fractionation
rather than transesterification.

Greenhouse effect

The process by which thermal radiation from a

planetary surface is absorbed by at the spirit
gases and we radiated in all directions.

Greenhouse gas

The gas in the atmosphere that absorbs any

bits radiation with them a thermal in for reader
range. The primary greenhouse gases in the
Earths atmosphere are water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.

Heavy Crude

Heavy crude oil has an API gravity of less than

20. The largest deposits of heavy crude are
found in Canada and Venezuela.

HHV

Higher heating value

Homogenizer

A mechanical device which is used to create a

emulsion by rapidly mixing the two immiscible
substance together.

HP

Horsepower

Hubbert Curve

A model of oil production over time. The rate of

production of individual wells grows
exponentially from discovery until a peak is
reached, at which point production steadily, and
sometimes swiftly, declines.

Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking)

The process used to recover oil that is trapped

in sedimentary rocks. Generally consists of
drilling followed by the injection of air or water,
which may or may not have chemicals mixed in.

Hydrocarbon

An organic compound composed of hydrogen

and carbon that makes up the majority of
petroleum and which is refined to make fuels.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the smallest of all atoms. Two

hydrogen atoms combined together constitute
molecular hydrogen, which can be burned as
fuel or used in fuel cells.

Hydrometer

An instrument for determining the gravity

(density) of a liquid.

International Oil Company (IOC)

Any oil company that is publicly traded.

Ionization

The process of adding or removing electrons

from atoms, thereby creating charged particles
called ions. Extremely high temperatures,
electrical discharge, and nuclear radiation can
cause ionization.

IP

British Institute of Petroleum.

Iraqi National Oil Company

(INOC)

The National Oil Company of Iraq. It was

founded in 1966 and is capable of production
capacity of three million barrels of oil per day.

Isthmus-34 Light

This is a sour crude with and API gravity of

33.74 and a sulfur content of 1.45%. It is
produced in Mexico.

Kerogen

The organic matter found in sedimentary rock

that contains a mixture of organic chemicals
and hydrocarbons and so would form. The solid
hydrocarbon part is referred to as bitumen.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation

The state oil company of Kuwait. It is proven

reserves of 111 billion barrels of oil and
estimated revenue of $67,000,000,000.

Latent Heat

The heat required to change the state of a

substance from solid to liquid or from liquid to
gas.

Layering

This occurs in tanks when a high density fuel is

mixed with a low density fuel and the lower
density floats atop the higher density. The same
phenomenon is observed in salad dressing that
are allowed to sit for a long time.

LHV

Lower Heating Value

Lifting

A term used to refer to tankers and barges

taking on oil or oil derivatives.

Light Crude

Light crude is any crude with and API gravity of

greater than 31. It is valued for the ease with

which it can be converted to gasoline.

Light Ends

The more volatile products of petroleum

refining; eg. butane, propane, gasoline. These
are the smallest hydrocarbons and often the
most valuable

Liter

A measure of capacity in the metric system

equal to 0.908 US quarts dry and 1.0567 US
quarts wet.

Long Ton

Measure of weight equal to 2,240 pounds.

Methane

The simplest of all hydrocarbons. It consists of

a single carbon with four attached hydrogen and
is a gas at room temperature.

Metric Ton

Measurement equal to 1000 kg or 2204 pounds

Micron

One thousandth of a millimeter or one millionth

of a meter. Approximately 0.00004 inches.

Middle Distillate

Heating oil, diesel fuels, and kerosene fill this

category, which constitutes the elements of
crude with medium density.

Minas

Also called Sumatran light, this is a light and

sweet crude with and API gravity of 35 and a
sulfur content of only 0.08%.

mm

Millimeter. 1/1000 of a meter.

Molecule

The smallest division of a compound that still

retains or exhibits all the properties of the

compound. A molecule of water for instance.

Naphtha

Volatile, colorless product of petroleum

distillation. Used primarily as paint solvent and
cleaning fluid.

Naphthenes

One of three basic hydrocarbon classifications

found naturally in crude oil. They are typically
used in the production of petrochemicals.

National Iranian Oil Company

(NIOC)

The National Oil Company of Iran with oil

reserves of 138 billion barrels and revenues of
$78,000,000,000. It has a production capacity
of four million barrels of crude per day.

National Oil Company (NOC)

Any oil company controlled by a state and which

is not publicly traded.

National Oil Corporation (NOC)

The state oil company of Libya. It controls

reserves of 50 billion barrels of oil. Annual
revenue is estimated at roughly
$45,000,000,000.

Neutralization number

The weight in milligrams of base (alkali) needed

to neutralize the acidic material in one gram of
oil. The higher the neutralization number, the
more acidic the oil is.

Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation (NNPC)

The state oil company of Nigeria. It controls oil

deposits of 64 billion barrels and earned roughly
$12,000,000,000 in profit and in 2006. It has
production capacity of 2.39 million barrels of oil
per day.

Oil

Crude petroleum and other hydrocarbons in

liquid form

Oil Shale

Oil shale refers to a type of crude oil that is

trapped in sedimentary rock.

Oil Tanker

Ships used for transporting petroleum across

water. Oil tankers can be double-hulled or
single-hulled. Oil tankers, the variety of sizes
ranging from a those that can safely carry tens
of thousands of barrels of oil to those that can
carry over two million barrels of oil.

Olefins

A class of unsaturated paraffin hydrocarbons.

These include things like ethylene and
propylene.

OPEC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries is an intergovernmental organization
of 12 nations that export oil. The countries that
make up OPEC are: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador,
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and
Venezuela. OPEC is headquartered in Vienna.

OPEC Reference Basket (ORB)

This is not a specific crude, but rather is a

weighted average of petroleum that comes from
OPEC countries. There are 11 different oils
combined into the orb be. It has an average API
gravity of 32.7 and an average sulfur content
of 1.77%.

Outage

Space left in a container to allow for expansion

during temperature changes it may undergo
during shipment.

Oxidation

Combining elemental compounds with oxygen.

This is the process that leads to rust.

Oxidizing agent

Any substance such as oxygen and chlorine ,

that can accept electrons.

Ozonation

The use of ozone for disinfection or odor

control.

Particulate

Solids that are suspended in a gas or liquid.

Peak Oil

On a global scale, this term refers to the point

at which extraction of petroleum is at its
maximum and after which production of oil can
only diminish. Peak oil can also be applied to
individual wells and is the point at which
maximum oil extraction for that well occurs.

Petrochemical

An intermediate chemical derived from

petroleum. It includes such things as ethylene,
benzene, toluene, and xylene.

Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)

The state owned petroleum company of

Venezuela. It has 77 billion barrels of
conventional crude oil and an estimated 235
billion barrels of extra-heavy crude.

Petroleum

Naturally occurring crude oil consisting of a

complex mix of hydrocarbons of various
molecular weights and other liquid organic
compounds as well as inorganic compounds.

Petroleum Reserve

A commercially recoverable deposit of oil.

Subdivided into proven, unproven, and strategic
reserves. A new category was created into 2007

termed resources.

pH

pH is an expression of how basic or acidic

something is. pH range is from 0 to 14, where 0
is most acidic, 14 most basic, and 7 is neutral.

Phenol

An alcohol derived from benzene.

Pipeline

Pipelines are used to transport a number of

substances including natural gas, fuels,
hydrogen, water, and petroleum.

Pollution

The destruction of water or air such that it is

unusable due to toxicity or risk of illness.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon

(PAH)

Atmospheric pollutants that are byproducts of

burning aromatic hydrocarbons. Many of these
can be found in cigarette smoke.

Polymer

A chemical formed by the combining many

single monomers.

Polymerization

Process of combining two or more simple

molecules to form a single large molecule called
a polymer. Most plastics are made this way.

Pour Point

Lowest temperature at which oil will flow freely.

Primary Extraction

The primary stage of recovery after an oil well

has been drilled. Oil flows to the surface under
natural mechanisms that include pressure from
the expansion of natural gas as well as gravity
drainage of oil from upper parts of the well and
displacement of oil by water. Primary extraction

is able to recover 5 to 15% of the total amount

of petroleum within a well.

Proven Reserve

A petroleum reserve in which there is a 90%

certainty that the petroleum can be recovered.

Quatar Petroleum (QP)

The state oil company of Quatar with total

recoverable reserves capacity of 170 billion
barrels of oil and production capacity of one
million barrels per day. Profits of roughly nine
billion dollars.

Ram Style Blowout Preventer

First invented in 1922, these are not intended

to completely seal a well but rather are used to
reduce the flow of oil to a manageable rate to
allow time for capping. Modern ram bops are
termed shear rams, and are capable of cutting
through drill pipe to completely stop the flow of
oil and the well.

Reduced Crude Oil

Crude oil that has undergone at least one

distillation to separate some of the lighter
hydrocarbons. Reducing crude lowers its API
gravity.

Reducing agent

Anything, such as iron or the sulfide ion that will

give up electrons. This is the opposite of an
oxidizing agent.

Refining

The process of separating crude oil into useful

components including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet
fuel, fuel oil, and other products.

Residual

Heavy fuel oils produced from the non-volatile

fractional distillation process. Heavy oils that

are leftovers after refining.

Resource

The term introduced in 2007 that adds

categories for contingent and prospective
resources in addition to proven and unproven
reserves. Contingent reserves are those that
are potentially recoverable, but for which
commercial development is not yet feasible due
to one or more contingencies. Prospective
reserves or prospective resources refer to
locations where oil may be found, but for which
no actual discovery has occurred.

Royal Dutch Shell

The second largest publicly traded oil company

in the world. It has oil reserves of over 20
billion barrels and annual revenue of
$368,000,000,000. It is headquartered in The
Hague, Netherlands as well as London, England.

Saudi Aramco

The largest oil company in the world and

perhaps the worlds most valuable privately held
company with an estimated total worth of 2.2
27 trillion in U.S. dollars. It has total estimated
petroleum reserves of 260 to 303,000,000,000
barrels of oil and production capacity of 8.3
million barrels per day. Revenue has been
estimated at $233,000,000,000 per year.

Second Generation Biofuels

Any biofuel produced from sustainable

feedstock which is not diverted from either in
animal or human food chains.

Secondary Extraction

Secondary recovery of petroleum occurs after

natural forces no longer drive oil to the surface.
Secondary recovery depends on mechanical
methods to increase pressure in the well
including the injection of natural gas or the use

of pumps. Secondary recovery accounts for

30% of the total output obtained from an oil
well.

Short ton

An measure of weight equal to 2,000 lbs.

Single Hull

In reference to oil tankers, this means the ship

has only one hull structure as compared to
those with two.

Slagging

Formation of hard deposits on pistons in an

engine as the result of contaminants, usually
sodium, vanadium and sulfur.

Sonatrach

The National Oil Company of Algeria. It has

proven reserves of 39 billion barrels of oil and
produces approximately 620,000 barrels per
day. It had net income in 2010 of $2.4 billion.

Sour Crude

Sour crude has a sulfur content of greater than

0.5% by weight.

Specific gravity

Weight of a particle, substance or chemical

solution in relation to an equal volume of water
at 15C.

Specific heat

The quantity of heat required to raise the

temperature of a unit weight of a substance by
1 degree.

Stabilize

To make something resistant to change. Organic

material can be stabilized by bacteria and will
not give off obnoxious odors.

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

(SAGD)

Two horizontal wells are drilled, with one well

approximately 5 m above the other. Steam is
injected into the upper well, sometimes along
with other chemicals, and heats the crude oil to
increase liquidity. Oil is then collected as it
drains into below were well. SAGD can reach
efficiencies of up to 60%.

STP

Standard Temperature (25C) and Pressure (300

mm Hg).

Straight-Run

All products that can be gained by the first

round of refining before cracking and other
secondary processes are implemented.

Strategic Reserve

Government-controlled oil stockpiles maintained

to protect a countrys economic and National
Security.

Stratification

Occurs in blended fuels where the denser fuels

settle to the bottom and lighter fuels rise to the
top.

Sulfur

An element that is present in crude oil and

natural gas as an impurity. Responsible for acid
rain.

Super Tanker

Any oil tanker capable of transporting more

than 320,000 metric tons.

Surfactant

Surface-active agent. These products are

basically soaps and help substances that are
immiscible, like water and oil, to mix.

Sweet Crude

Sweet crude has a sulfur content of less than

0.5% by weight.

Tapis

This is often referred to as the worlds costliest

oil. It comes from a single field in Malaysia and
has an API gravity of 45.2 and a sulfur content
of 0.0343%, making it an exceptionally light
and sweet.

Tertiary Extraction

The final stage of oil extraction. Methods are

applied it to increase the liquidity of the oil and
often include the injection of heat and
chemicals. Increasingly, oil-eating bacteria are
being used in this step. Accounts for 5 to 15%
of the total amount that can be recovered from
a well.

Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI)

The newest method in heavy oil extraction. Air

is injected into the tunnel or for end of the well
and then a fire is ignited in order to burn
heavier components of the oil. The lighter
elements are then extracted. The fire is selflimiting that due to the lack of oxygen in the
well.

Topped Crude Oil:

Oil from which the light hydrocarbons have

been removed.

Total Existent

All of the inorganic components and

hydrocarbon existing in a fuel.

Total SA

The fourth largest publicly traded oil company in

the world with oil reserves of 10.5 billion barrels
and revenue of $229,000,000,000. It is
headquartered in Paris, France.

Toxic

Poisonous to a living organism.

Toxicity

The degree of how poisonous a substance is.

Unproven Reserve

Geologically equivalent to proven reserves, their

unproven status rests on technical, regulatory,
or political issues. Unproven reserves fall into
two categories: probable and possible. A
probable reserve has a 50% chance for
petroleum recovery and is termed in the
industry P50. A possible reserve, also called a
P10 reserve, has a 10% chance of recovery.

Vapor Extraction (VAPEX)

In this method of oil extraction, two horizontal

Wells are drilled, with one well approximately 5
m above the other. Chemical solvents or
injected into the upper well in order to liquefy
the petroleum, which drains to the lower well
and is extracted.

West Texas Intermediate

The most famous of the benchmark crude oils.

WTI is a light, sweet crude with and API gravity
of 39.6 and a sulfur content of 0.24%.

Oil as a Lubricant: Viscosity and other Properties

When people think of oil, motor oil is one of the first things to come to mind. The
light brown, transparent quality of motor oil when it is fresh offers a stark contrast
to its dark black, opaque quality when it has been used and needs to be changed.
Why do we use oil as a lubricant and why does it degrade over time such that it
must periodically be replaced? As we will see, lubrication is an essential part of any
moving machine and certain petroleum fractions have special properties that make
them valuable lubricants.
What is a lubricant?
Most people are probably aware that a lubricant is used to reduce friction between
two moving surfaces. It also functions in transporting contaminants and other

foreign particles away from moving parts so that they do not due damage. These
particular properties are true of any lubricant whether it is used in an engine, on a
door, or even on the human body. As it turns out, there are a few other properties
that make for a good lubricant.

Reduces Friction

High Boiling Point and Low Freezing Point

High Viscosity

Thermal Stability

Corrosion Retardation

Resistance to Oxidation

Well treat each of these properties in turn, but will take them slightly out of order,
leaving viscosity for the end.
Lubricity Reducing Friction
The term lubricity means that a substance reduces friction. The customary way to
measure lubricity is to determine how much wear occurs when two moving surfaces
are separated by a thin film of the substance being tested as a lubricant.
Traditional tests include Ball-on-three-discs and Ball-on-cylinder. In both of
these cases, the wear that occurs between two moving parts under varying
conditions in the presence of a given substance is compared to the wear when
either no lubricant is present or when a known lubricant is present. The ability of a
substance to prevent wear (scuffing, grooving, etc.) is then quantified and used to
rate lubricity.
What is essentially happening in all of these cases is that the lubricant is providing
a layer of material between the moving parts that prevents them from having too
much contact. Because the lubricant is more slippery than the components it is
applied to, it reduces friction. A reduction in friction leads to less wear on
components, easier movement, and reduced energy needs of the system. In fact,
some well-designed engine oils can actually increase a cars fuel economy.
High Boiling Point and Low Freezing Point
All this says is that for a lubricant to be effective it cannot boil away or freeze solid.
In either case, the lubricant would cease to reduce friction. In the first case, it
would simply disappear and leave the moving parts to grind upon one another. In
the second case, it would actually increase friction, perhaps to the point of
preventing movement altogether. In motor oils, these two properties are explained

through viscosity numbers like 10w 40, which will be discussed more in the last
section of the article.
Thermal Stability
Friction generates heat, so for a lubricant to be successful, it needs to retain its
lubricity even when it gets hot. If a lubricant lacks thermal stability, then it begins
to break down when it gets hot, which leads to increased friction. This problem is
sometimes seen in car engines where it is known as sludging. Sludging is a
process whereby oil becomes sticky as a result of repeated exposure to hot engine
conditions. In extreme cases, sludge can gum-up an engine leading to failure and
even seizing in which the pistons are unable to move against the walls of the
cylinders and thus the engine cannot function.
Corrosion Prevention
Lubricants help to stop or prevent corrosion by coating components in a thin layer
that protects them from exposure to oxygen and other oxidizers that can cause
chemical reactions to occur that lead to damage to the surface of a material. The
best known example of corrosion is rust. Rust occurs when iron is exposed to
oxygen. Rusting can be increased by exposure to water and salt (as anyone who
lives in a snowy region where salt is applied to the roads will know).
Water is present in the atmosphere and salts are often contaminants of fuels. To
protect engine components from these substances, motor oil, coats the sides of
cylinders, pistons, and other moving engine parts. This coating prevents water,
oxygen, salt, and abrasive substances from coming into contact with the surface of
the steel (which contains iron).
Resistance to Oxidation
This is similar to thermal stability except that it applies to chemical reactions rather
than to the breakdown of the lubricant due to heat. Like any chemical, lubricants
can undergo chemical reactions that change the structure of molecules. For the
most part, such reactions are undesirable because they lead to a change in the
properties of the lubricant such that it is less effective at reducing friction and
preventing corrosion.
Structure of Petroleum that Creates a Lubricant
Before getting to viscosity, it is worth taking a look at what fractions of petroleum
best fit the above requirements and why. To begin, we need a substance that is
slippery enough to reduce friction. If you have ever felt mineral oil or motor oil
between your fingers, you know that it is very slippery. Why is that?
Why Oil is Slippery

Explaining why oil is slippery requires a look at its chemical properties. First, oil is
non-polar, which means it does not have a positive or negative charge. Some
molecules, like water, have a charge distribution, which means the molecule acts
almost like a battery, part of it has a positive charge and part of it has a negative
charge. The result, because positive is attracted to negative and vice versa, is that
water and other polar molecules stick to each other. Oil doesnt have this
problem, so one oil molecule can slide past another more easily than one water
molecule can slide past another.
Adding to the slipperiness of oil is its tendency to form distinct layers through forces
called Van der Waals forces, or more specifically London Dispersion forces (a type of
Van der Waals force). These forces, which are the weakest known in science, can
help old things together, which would increase friction. However, oils have the
unique property of forming forces only within layers because the molecules are
essentially planar. Planar just means that molecules are flat as the diagram below
emphasizes and only take up space in two dimensions rather than three. Without
projections to attach to, forces can only be distributed within the plane and so there
are no forces to bond one layer to the next. Thus, two layers of oil dont bond to
one another to any great degree.
In point of fact, oxidation of oil produces carboxylic acid derivatives, which ARE
polar. Thus, oxidation damages the viscosity of motor oil and is one of the reasons
why an oil that contaminants are unwanted and eventually degrade the quality of
oil.

Why Oil Doesnt Freeze

Next, we need a substance that is resistant to both boiling and freezing. To achieve
both of these properties, a substance will need to remain a liquid over a wide range
of temperatures. Lubricating oils, as it turns out, have an average chain length of

36 carbon atoms, this gives them a very high boiling point (somewhere around 300
degrees Celsius or 572 degrees Fahrenheit). The lack of polarity in the molecules
(they dont carry a positive or negative charge anywhere) combined with the
variation in size of hydrocarbon molecules (the average is 36, but the range is from
roughly 18 to 44 carbon atoms) prevents the molecules from forming any kind of
repeating, regular pattern needed for freezing. Of course, oil does flow easier or
harder depending on temperature, which we will discuss shortly in the section on
viscosity.
Viscosity
Viscosity is a complicated term that refers to how well a fluid resists being
deformed. In other words, how well a fluid resists shear and tensile stresses
determines how viscous it is. A highly viscous fluid is difficult to deform and
changes shape only slowly. Examples of such fluids would be honey. On the other
hand, water has a low viscosity and flows easily.
Viscosity is affected by temperature. The hotter a fluid is, the easier is flows and
the cooler it is, the more difficult it is to deform. A good lubricant needs to be fluid
enough at low temperatures to be able to move through an engine (or other
system) to provide protection. A good lubricant must also retain its viscosity at high
temperatures so that it does not flow out of the engine or become so thin so as to
be no more effective than water as a lubricant. The best lubricant is the one that
can provide separation between moving parts without being so sticky so as to
require a great deal of energy to move the parts. A scale referred to as the viscosity
index provides a measure of the change in viscosity of a substance with
temperature.
The viscosity index (VI) ranges from 0 to above 110, with 0 to 35 representing low
viscosity and anything over 110 representing high viscosity. The VI was created by
the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and oils are tested between 38 and 99
degrees Celsius (or 100 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit). These values, however, are
not what are reported on motor oil. Rather, these numbers are converted into a
rating system that uses one or two numbers and often takes the form of 10W-40 or
0W-40 or something similar. So what do the numbers in this system mean?
The number that includes a W, which stands for winter, means that the oil was
tested at a lower temperature than above. Here is how it works.
The number without the W represents the viscosity of the oil at 99 degrees Celsius
(210 Fahrenheit). An SAE of 20 translates into a VI value of 5.6 to 9.3. An SAE of
30 would translate to a VI value of 9.3 to 12.5. So, the higher the number, the
more viscous the oil will be at 99 degrees Celcius. This is the hot number for oil.
The number with the W is tested at a lower temperature and this is not always
consistent across the board. The temperature is reported somewhere on the bottle,
but is usually around 30 degrees Celsius. The VI value obtained is then translated
into a number followed by a W. The value 0W, for instance, indicates that at 30

degrees Celsius, the oil behaves as a 30 oil would behave at 100 degrees Celsius.
In other words, it is as thin at 30 degrees as a 30 oil is at 100 degrees.
Obviously, a lower number for the W is better because it means the oil flows well at
low temperatures. Because oil drains out of the higher parts of an engine as it sits,
running a cold engine is when the most metal to metal contact occurs and thus the
most wear. By similar reasoning, a higher non-W number is desirable because it
indicates that the oil retains its ability to protect an engine at higher temperatures
by retaining its ability to coat parts and not get too thin. Most new cars use 5W30. Some synthetic oils are able to attain ranges like 0W 40, which offers
outstanding protection and impr
Petroleum Contaminants: Sulfur and other Undesirables
A number of different chemicals can be found in petroleum, but the hydrocarbons
are what we are interested in. In fact, other substances in petroleum lead to
inefficient burning, pollution, damage to engine components, and other problems.
Refining of petroleum is carried out for two reasons. First, it is used to separate
hydrocarbons of different sizes to create different fuels and oils. Second, refining is
used to remove contaminants. This article looks at a few of the more common
contaminants, why they are a problem, and how they are removed.
Sulfur
Sulfur is probably the most common and most well known petroleum contaminant.
It is so common, in fact, that oil is rate (sweet or sour) based on its sulfur content.
So why do we care so much about sulfur?
Even though early prospectors tasted oil to determine how sweet or sour it was,
palatability is not the reason we care about sulfur in oil. A concentration of just
0.5% sulfur will make crude oil sour, which means longer refining and more
expensive gasoline and other products in the end. Most of this sulfur is found in the
form of hydrogen sulfide gas, a poisonous, noxious, foul-smelling gas sometimes
called sewer gas. Most hydrogen sulfide in petroleum results from the decay of
organic matter (the same reason it ends up in sewer gas).
Hydrogen sulfide is actually very flammable, so it could be used as a fuel if it were
not for the fact that it is also deadly in relatively low concentrations. Hydrogen
sulfide affects the nervous system, respiratory system, and may even have
contributed to several mass extinctions in Earths past. This deadly gas must be
removed from petroleum in order to make it safer for use. The hydrogen sulfide can
then be used to produce pure sulfur, a highly valued industrial element used in the
production of fertilizer. It is also made into sulfuric acid.
Vanadium

Vanadium is a naturally occurring heavy metal, a name that derives from its
relatively high atomic mass on the periodic table of elements. Heavy metals are
almost universally poisonous, including such familiar names as mercury, lead,
cadmium, and arsenic. Vanadium is no exception to this rule and is all vanadium
compounds are considered toxic.
Beyond toxicity, vanadium is also an oxidant and is the main component in fuel
(particularly diesel fuel) that leads to high temperature corrosion. During
combustion of hydrocarbon, vanadium in the petroleum reacts with other
contaminants like sodium and sulfur to produce compounds known as vandates that
increase the corrosion of steel by removing the passivation or inert layer that
usually shields steel from environmental factors that cause corrosion (rust). In
essence, vandates are salts and they increase the rate at which steel engine and
exhaust parts rust the way throwing salt on a metal increases the rate at which its
rusts. Vanadium also contributes to the corrosion of oil transport pipelines, ships,
and tanker trucks.
Iron
Iron contaminates oil mainly as a result of corrosion in pipelines, ships, and trucks.
The main problem with iron is that it can lead to sludge build-up in pumps, refinery
exchangers, and other fuel delivery systems.
Zinc
Zinc is a unique contaminant because it never occurs as a natural component of oil.
The only zinc in petroleum comes from recycling lubricating oils (motor oil and
hydraulic oil). The main problem with zinc is that it interferes with the removal of
salts from petroleum. Increased salt levels mean increased corrosion of refinery
systems, engine parts, etc.
How Hydrocarbons Burn
Ideal Reaction
Under ideal settings, where only hydrocarbon and oxygen are present, the chemical
reaction commonly called combustion or burning produces only water, carbon
dioxide, and energy as the following basic equation shows.

In the above ideal reaction, the energy gained from the reaction is greater than the
energy put into the reaction. It is common knowledge that a spark is needed to
make a hydrocarbon burn. The spark represents the energy need to break the
carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds of the hydrocarbon molecule as well as
the oxygen-oxygen bond of the oxygen molecule. The typical C-C bond requires 350

kJ/mol to break, the typical C-H bond requires 413 kJ/mol, and the O-O bond
requires about 498 kJ/mol.
We know, however, the energy is released from these reactions and it is released
when new bonds are formed. The H-O bonds of water release about 464 kJ/mol of
energy when formed and the C=O bonds of CO 2 release about 800 kJ/mol when
formed. The net outcome is the release of energy in the form of heat.
Oxygen as Limiting Factor
The atmosphere is not pure oxygen. It contains a number of other gases including
nitrogen (78%), argon, hydrogen, iodine, and other trace compounds. The effect of
these other compounds is two-fold. First, they act as contaminants in the reaction,
which is discussed in this section. They also act to effectively limit the concentration
of oxygen. Rather than 100% oxygen, reactions that occur under atmospheric
conditions are subject to only 21% oxygen.
When oxygen is a limiting factor, it is not possible to pair every carbon atom with
two oxygen atoms during a combustion reaction. Thus, some carbon atoms end up
with only one oxygen atom. This produces carbon monoxide. When a combustion
reaction produces CO, it is referred to as incomplete combustion.
Atmospheric combustion would then be more closely modeled by the equation that
follows (note this is not a balanced equation).

Atmospheric Contaminants
Contamination can come from the petroleum refining process or from the
atmosphere itself. The most common atmospheric contaminant (for purposes of
combustion) is nitrogen in the form of N 2. When nitrogen is burned at high
temperatures in the presence of oxygen, it produces nitrogen oxide and nitrogen
dioxide. These two compounds represent about 1% of the output of a common
hydrocarbon combustion reaction under atmospheric conditions. Thus, the equation
can be rewritten to reflect this new addition.

Both nitrogen compounds can participate in the formation of nitric acid (HNO 3),
which is a component of acid rain. The reactions are as follows:

Petroleum Contaminants
Though sulfur is not a major component of the atmosphere, it is often found in
petroleum. In fact, sour versus sweet petroleum is determined by the sulfur content
where sour petroleum contains more than 0.5% sulfur. Sulfur, when burned during
hydrocarbon combustion produces sulfur dioxide, which acts as a precursor to
sulfuric acid. Like nitric acid, this contributes to acid rain. We can once again update
our hydrocarbon combustion reaction to reflect this new contaminant (reaction not
balanced and H2S is not the only sulfur contaminant. Others include COS, CS2, SO2
and more).

The reaction that produces sulfuric acid from sulfur dioxide is more complicated
than that which governs nitric oxide production. In general, the reaction proceeds
as follows (note that a dot indicates an extra electron on a compound, making it a
radical in chemistry lingo).

Soot and Smoke

Soot and smoke both refer to particulate matter that gets trapped in gases during
combustion. The visible, dark black component of smoke is carbon that has
incompletely burned and, rather than forming CO 2, has formed solid carbon
compounds known as amorphous carbon. These carbon compounds are collectively
referred to as soot. Diesel exhaust accounts for 25% of all smoke and soot in the
atmosphere. This is generally the result of the lower quality of fuel (less refined)
that constitutes diesel fuel. Soot, in particular, contains large amounts of polycyclic

aromatic hydrocarbons, which are well-known mutagens and carcinogens. Diesel

exhaust is considered the most carcinogenic of fossil fuels used in transportation.
Source: http://www.petroleum.co.uk
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