1. Oil - “Black Gold!”
NASA

2. 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?

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Migration Hot oil is less dense than rock Rising oil
Rising oil
The rising oil eventually gets
trapped in reservoirs

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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

17. Politics 84% of crude oil is refined into fuel, principally for cars
and planes
Demand is ever increasing,
especially due to growth of
Chinese economy
blogs.sun.com/richb/resource/NBC_at_the_Pump.jpg

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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 ( )
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

23. 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

24. 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.