PERSIAN GULF OIL BY WILL CAMARDA ESS 315

Location  The majority of the Persian Gulf Oil Fields are located in the Persian Gulf Basin  Located between Eurasia and Arabian Plates  The top 5 future oil fields in the world all reside in the Middle East

Geologic History  The Persian Gulf is the remains of a once larger basin now in filled by sediment from Mesopotamian Rivers  Collision of Arabian and Eurasian plates at the Mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary produced the Zagros Fold Belt and the large Mesopotamian Foredeep  Has been an area of consistent deposition during the Paleozoic that led to the accumulation of a very thick sedimentary lens of carbonate rocks and evaporates

Formation of Oil (Creation)  Sediment from land and organics typically from marine environments fall to the bottom of the basin where they create layers which are subject increase pressure and depth as more layers are laid down  Organics then slowly break down and form the an organic rich residue (kerogen)  As more heat and pressure is applied the kerogen can change into oil and gas (“oil window”)

Formation (Migration)  The oil originates in source rock (shales) and will eventually migrate up into the reservoir rock (sandstone and limestones)  Folds and faults create traps (zones in which the oil becomes trapped)

Recovery  Primary Recovery  Secondary Recovery  Steam, CO2, Water/Chemicals  Technology  Horizontal Drilling  Offshore Drilling

Reserves  Reserves represent quantities of crude oil estimated to be commercially recoverable with current technology

Global Consumption  Although continents such as N. America and Europe use the most oil currently, countries such as China and India are rapidly growing thus increasing their need for oil

OPEC  The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has 12 current member countries  Created to control the supply and distribution of oil on the global market  Their presence has large effects on society as they control the majority of the known petroleum in the world

Environmental Issues  The burning of fossil fuels (petroleum) creates large amounts of greenhouse gases (SO2, CO2, etc)  Water pollution through by-products of refining and oil spills  Oil spills have can very adverse affects the animals and plant life of the surrounding spill  During The Persian Gulf War when Iraq fled Kuwait it set fire to 721 oil wells, burning millions of barrels of oil much of which also poured into the Persian Gulf

Alternative to Persian Gulf Oil  Although there are large reserves of oil in and around the Persian Gulf, new sources of energy are eventually going to be required to replace these oil fields  Renewable energy resources (solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, etc)  Coal and natural gas  Use of tars sands, oil shales and other sources of hydrocarbons will become more prevalent if the cost of oil rises

Resources  fields_slide_2.html   factbook/rankorder/2178rank.html     a18c- c8b9b7bc70c9%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db =geh&AN=   Resources of the Earth by James R. Craig  Economic Geology Illustrated by Eric Cheney