Oil, Gas, and all that stuff Morgan P. Brown, Ph.D. Amerada Hess Corporation Houston, TX

About the speaker… Born 1974, Salt Lake City, Utah Places lived: California(4), Louisiana, Texas(4), Colorado Graduated from 24 th grade in 2004 Married, two kids (3 rd,4 th grade) Geophysicist for Amerada Hess

What’s a Geophysicist do? Study volcanoes Study earthquakes Explore for oil and gas using reflection seismology?!?

Reflection Seismology Seismos = Greek for “earthquake” Logo = Greek for “word” Seismology = The word of earthquakes?! Seismology = The study of how waves travel within the earth But what exactly is a “wave”?

Reflection Seismology Quiz #1: If you squeeze a rock equally from all sides, then let go, what happens? a)Nothing b)Rock squishes, but returns to normal size c)Rock squishes, then oscillates between small and big

This oscillation produces a (compressional) P-wave! Why does the oscillation die out? What if you set off an explosion underwater? Waves move circularly away from source Also have (shear) S-waves Reflection Seismology

What about the reflections? When properties of rocks change, waves are reflected Record the reflections with microphones Look for oil & gas traps on the seismic image

What is oil? Sometimes it’s really light, with a lot of dissolved natural gas Sometimes it’s gooey, like asphalt Usually it is somewhere in between: a black, stinky liquid Spindletop gusher, 1901

How much oil do we use? The world consumes 82 million barrels of oil per year. That’s 3.4 billion barrels per year! At that rate, you could fill Crater Lake Oregon in 4 years! 1148 feet deep 6 miles across

How much oil do we use? Or, you’d fill the 610 loop to a depth of 400 feet! 400 feet 10 miles

What is natural gas? Methane: CH 4 The lightest component of oil The world consumes 100 trillion cubic feet per year! Imagine a balloon 20 miles in diameter!

Quiz #2: Where do oil & natural gas occur in nature? a)Between the grains in rocks b)In large underground pools c)Close to hot magma in volcanoes How we get oil & gas

Shale—full of carbon-rich goo Lots of heat Lots of pressure Oil forms in the shale Oil rises upward—why? sand water oil gas top seal salt Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Getting oil out of the ground Quiz #3: Which is better for oil extraction? = sand = oil doesn’t matter (a) (b) (c)

Unconventional Resources “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX Shale looks like this. Bad for oil & gas extraction! Make cracks in the rock. Fill cracks with sand! Oil flows out!

Unconventional Resources “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX shale

Unconventional Resources Coal Bed Methane –Methane (CH 4 ) adsorbs onto coal But Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) adsorbs even better than CH 4 !

Unconventional Resources Coal Bed Methane coal CO 2 CH 4 We can use a greenhouse gas (CO 2 ) to produce electricity! The CO 2 is sequestered underground!

Unconventional Resources Coal Bed Methane US Coal Distribution

Unconventional Resources Methane Hydrates –Solid form of CH 4 bonded to water (H 2 O) –About 20 molecules of CH 4 per molecule H 2 O –Forms under high pressures and low tempteratures –Deep water, near the seabed

Unconventional Resources Methane Hydrates –Energy density of methane hydrate = 168 m 3 free gas/1 m 3 hydrate

Unconventional Resources Methane Hydrates –How much natural gas is present in hydrates? Could supply the world’s energy needs for hundreds of years!

Alternative Energy Alternatives that don’t require fossil fuels: –Wind power (NIMBY, bird killers) –Nuclear (NIMBY, disposal) –Water power (NIMBY, dams kill fish) –Biofuels (still emit greenhouse gas) –Solar (expensive, how to store?) –Geothermal (limited availability) –Tides (limited availability, like a dam) –Fuel cells (how to get hydrogen?)

An Alternative Energy House windmill solar power geothermal heating and cooling fuel cell

Thanks for your attention! Any questions?