Oil - “Black Gold!” NASA

NOtes outline Origin – How does oil form? Exploration and Production – How do we find oil and how is it produced? Politics – Why are oil and gas important?

Origin: Chemistry Hydrocarbon en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Petroleum.JPG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Octane_molecule_3D_model.png Hydrocarbon Oil is a mixture of different hydrocarbons. Molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon. Crude Oil

Plankton 10,000 of these bugs would fit on a pinhead! Plant plankton cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=93510 10,000 of these bugs would fit on a pinhead! Plant plankton Animal plankton en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ceratium_hirundinella.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Copepod. Most oil starts as plankton that live in the ocean.

On the sea bed When the plankton dies it drops down to sea bed Sea bed upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Plankton.jpg When the plankton dies it drops down to sea bed en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nerr0328.jpg Sea bed

Black Shale If little/no oxygen is in the water then phytoplankton upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Plankton.jpg If little/no oxygen is in the water then phytoplankton does not decompose Forms Black Shale © Earth Science World Image Bank

Cooking As Black Shale is buried, it is heated. First changes into a solid form Kerogen Around 90°C, it is changed into a liquid called oil Oil Around 150°C, it is changed into a gas Gas A rock that has produced oil and gas in this way is known as a Source Rock www.oilandgasgeology.com/oil_gas_window.jpg

Migration Hot oil is less dense than rock Rising oil www.diveco.co.nz/img/gallery/2006/diver_bubbles.jpg Rising oil The rising oil eventually gets trapped in reservoirs

Ancient Earth Around 150 million years ago, conditions were just right © Ron Blakey, Arizona Flagstaff Around 150 million years ago, conditions were just right to build up huge thicknesses of Black Shale The world’s main oil deposits all formed in warm shallow seas where plankton bloomed but bottom waters were deoxygenated Ancient Earth

Exploration and Production As oil migrates it fills up the pores (oil-filled pores shown in black) Impermeable Some rocks are permeable forming Reservoir Rock Other rocks are impermeable forming an Oil Trap.

Exploration and Production Drill here! Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inor Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inpj Seismic surveys are used to locate underground oil reservoirs Shock waves are fired into the ground. These bounce off layers of rock and reveal any structural domes that might contain oil

Exploration and Production Once an oil trap has been identified, a hole is drilled to assess the potential The cost of drilling $10,000/meter en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_platform.jpg

Exploration and Production Trans-Alaskan Pipeline Extracted oil sent to a refinery for processing Pipelines transport most of the world’s oil from well to refinery Massive Oil Tankers also play an important role in distribution Presenter notes: Once the oil and gas has been extracted from the ground, it must be safely transported from the well to the refinery where it will be processed. Oil is usually transported from the well to the refinery using pipelines. These may stretch over land or be laid over the sea bed. A spectacular example of an oil pipeline is the Trans-Alaskan pipeline which carries oil and gas for 1300 kilometres across Arctic permafrost. Another way that oil and gas are transported is by means of massive oil tankers. These gigantic vessels can carry up to half a million tonnes of oil. United States Geological Survey

Exploration and Production Car fuel Distillation Plant Oil refinery Jet fuel Road tar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anacortes_Refinery_31911.JPG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crude_Oil_Distillation.png Oil must be refined. Hydrocarbons separated producing different types of gas

Exploration and Production USGS Global oil and gas occurrences are now well understood (provinces shown in green). Only Antarctica and the Arctic remain unexplored.

Politics 84% of crude oil is refined into fuel, principally for cars and planes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shellgasstationlosthills.jpg Demand is ever increasing, especially due to growth of Chinese economy blogs.sun.com/richb/resource/NBC_at_the_Pump.jpg

Politics Food additives CDs and DVDs Fertilizers and Plastic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CD-R.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Konservering.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lilit.jpg Food additives CDs and DVDs Fertilizers and Pesticides Plastic The remaining 16% of crude oil is used for a range of purposes shown above as well as synthetic fibres, dyes and detergents

Politics Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Opec_Organization_of_the_Petroleum_Exporting_Countries_countries.PNG Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group of 13 countries that produce 36% of the world’s oil, or 32 million barrels of oil per day. The biggest producer is Saudi Arabia, but Iran, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Venezuela are also major suppliers Presenter notes: So, if oil and gas is of such importance to society, it’s important to understand who controls its production. Today, oil production is governed by three major groups who together produce 75% of the global supply. The single largest oil producer is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC. Together these 13 countries produce 36% of the world’s oil, or to put it another way, some 32 million barrels of oil per day (based 2008 figures). The largest producers in OPEC are four Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, although Venezuela is also a major producer.

Politics Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OECD-memberstates.png Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) produces 24% of all oil, or 21 million barrels per day. The USA is the biggest single producer in OECD but Mexico, Canada and the UK are also major suppliers Outside OECD, the states of the former Soviet Union are also major producers supplying a further 15% of global output

Supply and Demand en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OilConsumptionpercapita.png USA uses 24% of global supply but China shows the biggest year-to-year increase in usage Oil consumption per person (darker reds indicate higher usage) In 2007, global consumption grew by 1.2 million barrels per day. OPEC and OECD nations can only raise production by a further 2.5 million barrels per day so a squeeze is on the cards

Peak Oil Era of energy crisis Hubbert (1903-1989) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert_peak_oil_plot.svg Era of energy crisis Hubbert (1903-1989) In 1956, Hubbert predicted that global oil production would peak around the Year 2000 and trigger an Energy Crisis with power blackouts and rising costs of energy and fuel

Rising Oil Prices $139 by June 2008 Oil prices have been steadily rising for several years and in June 2008 stand at a record high of $139 per barrel. Is the rise due to a squeeze in availability (peak oil) or are other political or economic factors to blame? Presenter notes: One piece of evidence that suggests that Hubbert may have been right is rising cost of oil. For the past few years, oil prices have rapidly increased. In 1999, oil was priced at less than $10 per barrel but since then the price has sky-rocketed to $139 per barrel by June 2008 and will probably go even higher. Is this due to a squeeze in availability, as Hubbert suggested, or are other political or economic factors to blame? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Prices_Medium_Term.png

Canada’s Tar Sands NASA i.treehugger.com/files/canada-tar-sands-01.jpg Higher oil prices and new technology mean unconventional oil deposits are now economically viable (e.g. tar sands) The Athabasca Deposit in Alberta contains 1.75 trillion barrels, or about half of the world’s proven oil reserves! Presenter notes: Whatever the cause of the current rises in oil prices, there is good reason to believe we have not yet reached Hubbert’s era of “peak oil” production. One of the effects of higher prices is that oil deposits that were once considered uneconomic to exploit have now become viable. The largest of the these unconventional oil deposits is the Athabasca tar sands of Albert, Canada. Amazingly this deposit contains over half the world’s oil reserves, equal to 1.75 trillion barrels. The oil is mixed together with sand near the surface and is extracted by opencast mining using giant dumper trucks! However, it is very expensive to extract oil from tar sands, so if this source is used extensively, prices are unlikely to fall. Nevertheless, the Athabasca tar sands together with other probable large oilfields in the Arctic and Antarctica will probably stave of oil shortages for several decades to come.