Petroleum (L. Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many petroleum, from Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. With the Roman conquest, Latin was spread to countries around the Mediterranean, including a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Aragonese, Corsican, Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Sardinian, Spanish and others, are descended from Latin, while: petra rock + oleum oil[1]) or crude oil is a naturally occurring, toxic, flammable Flammability is defined as how easily something will burn or ignite, causing fire or combustion. The degree of difficulty required to cause the combustion of a substance is quantified through fire testing. Internationally, a variety of test protocols exist to quantify flammability. The ratings achieved are used in building codes, insurance liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls. Aromatic hydrocarbons , alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and alkyne-based compounds are different types of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, simple oxides of carbon and cyanides, as well as the allotropes of carbon, are considered inorganic. The distinction between "organic" and ", that are found in geologic formations A formation or geological formation is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy. A formation consists of a certain number of rock strata that have a comparable lithology, facies or other similar properties. Formations are not defined on the thickness of the rock strata they consist of and the thickness of different formations can therefore vary beneath the Earth's Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet,[note 6] or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 7] surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point The boiling point of an element or a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid, into a large number of consumer products, from gasoline Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture which is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It is also used as a solvent, mainly known for its ability to dilute paints and kerosene Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin in UK and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros . The word Kerosene was registered as a trademark by Abraham Gesner in 1854 and for several years only the North American Gas Light Company and the Downer to asphalt Asphalt ( ˈæs.fɒlt ) is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits sometimes termed asphaltum. It is most commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase and maltenes as the continuous phase (though there is some disagreement amongst and chemical reagents A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction or is added to see if a reaction occurs " . Such a reaction is used to confirm the presence of another substance. Examples of such analytical reagents include Fehling's reagent, Millon's reagent and Tollens' reagent used to make plastics A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic amorphous solids[citation needed] used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs. Monomers of plastic are either natural or synthetic and pharmaceuticals A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.[2]

The term petroleum was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by the German A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, mineralogist Georg Bauer Georgius Agricola was a German scholar and scientist. Known as "the father of mineralogy", he was born at Glauchau in Saxony. His real name was Georg Pawer; Agricola is the Latinised version of his name, Pawer/(Bauer) meaning farmer. He is best known for his book De Re Metallica, also known as Georgius Agricola.[3]

Contents

Composition

In its strictest sense, petroleum includes only crude oil, but in common usage it includes both crude oil and natural gas Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with other fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas. Both crude oil and natural gas are predominantly a mixture of hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls. Aromatic hydrocarbons , alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and alkyne-based compounds are different types of hydrocarbons. Under surface pressure and temperature conditions In chemistry, standard conditions for temperature and pressure are standard sets of conditions for experimental measurements, to allow comparisons to be made between different sets of data. The most used standards are those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the lighter hydrocarbons methane Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4. It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen produces carbon dioxide and water. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel. However, because it is a gas at, ethane Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. It is the only two-carbon alkane that is an aliphatic hydrocarbon. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas, propane Propane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. It is derived from other petroleum products during oil or natural gas processing. It is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves and residential central heating and butane Butane is a hydrocarbon with the formula C4H10, that is, an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" occur as gases, while the heavier ones from pentane Pentane is an organic compound with the formula C5H12 — that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the n-pentane isomer; the other two being called "methylbutane" and "dimethylpropane" and up are in the form of liquids or solids. However, in the underground oil reservoir A petroleum reservoir, or an oil and gas reservoir, is a subsurface pool of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. The naturally occurring hydrocarbons are trapped by overlying rock formations with lower permeability the proportion which is gas or liquid varies depending on the subsurface conditions, and on the phase diagram A phase diagram in physical chemistry, engineering, mineralogy, and materials science is a type of chart used to show conditions at which thermodynamically distinct phases can occur at equilibrium. In mathematics and physics, "phase diagram" is used with a different meaning: a synonym for a phase space of the petroleum mixture.[4]

An oil well An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well produces predominantly crude oil, with some natural gas dissolved Solubility is the property of a solid, liquid, or gaseous chemical substance called solute to dissolve in a liquid solvent to form a homogeneous solution of the solute in the solvent. The solubility of a substance fundamentally depends on the used solvent as well as on temperature and pressure. The extent of the solubility of a substance in a in it. Because the pressure is lower at the surface than underground, some of the gas will come out of solution In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent and be recovered (or burned) as associated gas or solution gas. A gas well An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and produce petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well produces predominately natural gas. However, because the underground temperature and pressure are higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane Pentane is an organic compound with the formula C5H12 — that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the n-pentane isomer; the other two being called "methylbutane" and "dimethylpropane", hexane Hexane is a hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C6H14; that is, an alkane with six carbon atoms, and heptane n-Heptane is the straight-chain alkane with the chemical formula H3C5CH3 or C7H16. When used as a test fuel component in anti-knock test engines, a 100% heptane fuel is the zero point of the octane rating scale (the 100 point is a 100% iso-octane). Octane number equates to the anti-knock qualities of a comparison mixture of heptane and isooctane in the gaseous state Gas is one of three classical states of matter. Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons are so energized that they leave their parent atoms. Under surface conditions these will condense Condensation is the change in the phase of matter from the gaseous phase (of an element/ chemical species) into liquid droplets or solid grains of the same element/ chemical species. Upon the slowing-down of the atoms/ molecules of the species, the overall attraction forces between these prevail and bring them together at distances comparable to out of the gas and form natural gas condensate Natural gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields, often shortened to condensate. Condensate resembles gasoline Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture which is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It is also used as a solvent, mainly known for its ability to dilute paints in appearance and is similar in composition to some volatile In chemistry and physics, volatility is the tendency of a substance to vaporize. Volatility is directly related to a substance's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure light crude oils Light crude oil is liquid petroleum that has a low density and flows freely at room temperature. It has a low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. It generally has a low wax content. Light crude oil receives a higher price than heavy crude oil on commodity.

The proportion of light hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture is highly variable between different oil fields An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area. In addition, there may be exploratory wells probing the edges, pipelines to and ranges from as much as 97% by weight in the lighter oils to as little as 50% in the heavier oils and bitumens Bitumen is a mixture of organic liquids that are highly viscous, black, sticky, entirely soluble in carbon disulfide, and composed primarily of highly condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes Alkanes are chemical compounds that consist only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) (i.e., hydrocarbons), wherein these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds (i.e., they are saturated compounds) without any cyclic structure (i.e. loops). Alkanes belong to a homologous series of organic compounds in which the members differ, cycloalkanes Cycloalkanes are types of alkanes which have one or more rings of carbon atoms in the chemical structure of their molecules. Alkanes are types of organic hydrocarbon compounds which have only single chemical bonds in their chemical structure. Cycloalkanes consist of only carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) atoms and are saturated because there are no and various aromatic hydrocarbons An aromatic hydrocarbon or arene (or sometimes aryl hydrocarbon) is a hydrocarbon with a conjugated cyclic molecular structure that is much more stable than the hypothetical localized structure. The term 'aromatic' was assigned before the physical mechanism determining aromaticity was discovered, and was derived from the fact that many of the while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere, oxygen Oxygen (pronounced /ˈɒksɨdʒɨn/, OK-si-jin, from the Greek roots ὀξύς (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter), is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. It is a member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, and is a highly and sulfur Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a bright yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals. It is an essential element for life and is found in, and trace amounts of metals such as iron Iron is the most common element in the earth as a whole, and the fourth most common in the Earth's crust. It is produced as a result of stellar fusion in high-mass stars, and it is the heaviest stable element produced by stellar fusion because the fusion of iron is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic. Iron is the most widely used, nickel Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. It is one of the four ferromagnetic elements that exist around room temperature, the other three being iron, cobalt and gadolinium, copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable, and a freshly exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material, and a and vanadium. The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation to formation but the proportion of chemical elements vary over fairly narrow limits as follows:[5]

Composition by weight
Element Percent range
Carbon 83 to 87%
Hydrogen 10 to 14%
Nitrogen 0.1 to 2%
Oxygen 0.1 to 1.5%
Sulfur 0.5 to 6%
Metals < 0.1%

Four different types of hydrocarbon molecules appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, determining the properties of each oil.[4]

Composition by weight
Hydrocarbon Average Range
Paraffins 30% 15 to 60%
Naphthenes 49% 30 to 60%
Aromatics 15% 3 to 30%
Asphaltics 6% remainder
Most of the world's oils are non-conventional.[6]

Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish). In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a gas cap over the petroleum, and saline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it. Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crude bitumen. In Canada, bitumen is considered a sticky, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow.[7] Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in the Orinoco oil sands, although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy oil. These oil sands resources are called unconventional oil to distinguish them from oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods. Between them, Canada and Venezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570×10^9 m3) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice the volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil.[8]

Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and gasoline (petrol), both important "primary energy" sources.[9] 84% by volume of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-based fuels), including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas.[10] The lighter grades of crude oil produce the best yields of these products, but as the world's reserves of light and medium oil are depleted, oil refineries are increasingly having to process heavy oil and bitumen, and use more complex and expensive methods to produce the products required. Because heavier crude oils have too much carbon and not enough hydrogen, these processes generally involve removing carbon from or adding hydrogen to the molecules, and using fluid catalytic cracking to convert the longer, more complex molecules in the oil to the shorter, simpler ones in the fuels.

Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, oil has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics; the 16% not used for energy production is converted into these other materials. Petroleum is found in porous rock formations in the upper strata of some areas of the Earth's crust. There is also petroleum in oil sands (tar sands). Known reserves of petroleum are typically estimated at around 190 km3 (1.2 trillion (short scale) barrels) without oil sands,[11] or 595 km3 (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands.[12] Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels (13.4×10^6 m3) per day, or 4.9 km3 per year.

Chemistry

Octane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum. Lines represent single bonds; black spheres represent carbon; white spheres represent hydrogen.

Petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons; the most commonly found molecules are alkanes (linear or branched), cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or more complicated chemicals like asphaltenes. Each petroleum variety has a unique mix of molecules, which define its physical and chemical properties, like color and viscosity.

The alkanes, also known as paraffins, are saturated hydrocarbons with straight or branched chains which contain only carbon and hydrogen and have the general formula CnH2n+2. They generally have from 5 to 40 carbon atoms per molecule, although trace amounts of shorter or longer molecules may be present in the mixture.

The alkanes from pentane (C5H12) to octane (C8H18) are refined into gasoline (petrol), the ones from nonane (C9H20) to hexadecane (C16H34) into diesel fuel and kerosene (primary component of many types of jet fuel), and the ones from hexadecane upwards into fuel oil and lubricating oil. At the heavier end of the range, paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms, while asphalt has 35 and up, although these are usually cracked by modern refineries into more valuable products. The shortest molecules, those with four or fewer carbon atoms, are in a gaseous state at room temperature. They are the petroleum gases. Depending on demand and the cost of recovery, these gases are either flared off, sold as liquified petroleum gas under pressure, or used to power the refinery's own burners. During the winter, Butane (C4H10), is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates, because butane's high vapor pressure assists with cold starts. Liquified under pressure slightly above atmospheric, it is best known for powering cigarette lighters, but it is also a main fuel source for many developing countries. Propane can be liquified under modest pressure, and is consumed for just about every application relying on petroleum for energy, from cooking to heating to transportation.

The cycloalkanes, also known as naphthenes, are saturated hydrocarbons which have one or more carbon rings to which hydrogen atoms are attached according to the formula CnH2n. Cycloalkanes have similar properties to alkanes but have higher boiling points.

The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons which have one or more planar six-carbon rings called benzene rings, to which hydrogen atoms are attached with the formula CnHn. They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic.

These different molecules are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbons. For example, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (isooctane), widely used in gasoline, has a chemical formula of C8H18 and it reacts with oxygen exothermically:[13]

2 C8H18(l) + 25 O2(g) → 16 CO2(g) + 18 H2O(g) + 10.86 MJ/mol (of octane)

The amount of various molecules in an oil sample can be determined in laboratory. The molecules are typically extracted in a solvent, then separated in a gas chromatograph, and finally determined with a suitable detector, such as a flame ionization detector or a mass spectrometer.[14]

Incomplete combustion of petroleum or gasoline results in production of toxic byproducts. Too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Due to the high temperatures and high pressures involved, exhaust gases from gasoline combustion in car engines usually include nitrogen oxides which are responsible for creation of photochemical smog.

Empirical equations for the thermal properties of petroleum products

Heat of combustion

At a constant volume the heat of combustion of a petroleum product can be approximated as follows:

Qv = 12,400 − 2,100d2

where Qv is measured in cal/gram and d is the specific gravity at 60 °F.

Thermal conductivity

The thermal conductivity of petroleum based liquids can be modeled as follows:

,

where K is measured in BTU · hr−1ft−2 , t is measured in °F and d is the specific gravity at 60 °F.

Specific heat

The specific heat of a petroleum oils can be modeled as follows:

,

where c is measured in BTU/lbm-°F, t is the temperature in Fahrenheit and d is the specific gravity at 60 °F.

In units of kcal/(kg·°C), the formula is:

,

where the temperature t is in Celsius and d is the specific gravity at 15 °C.

Latent heat of vaporization

The latent heat of vaporization can be modeled under atmospheric conditions as follows:

,

where L is measured in BTU/lbm, t is measured in °F and d is the specific gravity at 60 °F.

In units of kcal/kg, the formula is:

,

where the temperature t is in Celsius and d is the specific gravity at 15 °C.[15]

Formation

Structure of vanadium porphyrin compound extracted from petroleum by Alfred E. Treibs, father of organic geochemistry. Treibs noted the close structural similarity of this molecule and chlorophyll a.

According to generally accepted theory, petroleum is derived from ancient biomass.[16] It is a fossil fuel derived from ancient fossilized organic materials. The theory was initially based on the isolation of molecules from petroleum that closely resemble known biomolecules.

More specifically, crude oil and natural gas are products of heating of ancient organic materials (i.e. kerogen) over geological time. Formation of petroleum occurs from hydrocarbon pyrolysis, in a variety of mostly endothermic reactions at high temperature and/or pressure.[17] Today's oil formed from the preserved remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae, which had settled to a sea or lake bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions (the remains of prehistoric terrestrial plants, on the other hand, tended to form coal). Over geological time the organic matter mixed with mud, and was buried under heavy layers of sediment resulting in high levels of heat and pressure (diagenesis). This process caused the organic matter to change, first into a waxy material known as kerogen, which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons via a process known as catagenesis.

Geologists often refer to the temperature range in which oil forms as an "oil window"[18]—below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen, and above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking. Sometimes, oil which is formed at extreme depths may migrate and become trapped at much shallower depths than where it was formed. The Athabasca Oil Sands is one example of this.

Abiogenic origin

Main article: Abiogenic petroleum origin

A small number of geologists adhere to the abiogenic petroleum origin hypothesis and maintain that hydrocarbons of purely inorganic origin exist within Earth's interior. Chemists Marcellin Berthelot and Dmitri Mendeleev, as well as astronomer Thomas Gold championed the theory in the Western world by supporting the work done by Nikolai Kudryavtsev and Vladimir Porfiriev in the 1950s. It is currently supported primarily by Jack F. Kenney, Vladilen Krayushkin, and Vladimir Kutcherov.[19][20]

The abiogenic origin hypothesis has not yet been ruled out, but it has little support among modern petroleum geologists.[21] Its advocates consider that it is "still an open question"[22] Extensive research into the chemical structure of kerogen has identified algae as the primary source of oil. The abiogenic origin hypothesis fails to explain the presence of these markers in kerogen and oil, as well as failing to explain how inorganic origin could be achieved at temperatures and pressures sufficient to convert kerogen to graphite. It has not been successfully used in uncovering oil deposits by geologists, as the hypothesis lacks any mechanism for determining where the process may occur.[23] More recently scientists at the Carnegie Institution for Science have found that ethane and heavier hydrocarbons can be synthesized under conditions of the upper mantle.[24]

Crude oil

Crude oil reservoirs

Hydrocarbon trap.

Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: a source rock rich in hydrocarbon material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil; a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; and a cap rock (seal) or other mechanism that prevents it from escaping to the surface. Within these reservoirs, fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it, although the different layers vary in size between reservoirs. Because most hydrocarbons are lighter than rock or water, they often migrate upward through adjacent rock layers until either reaching the surface or becoming trapped within porous rocks (known as reservoirs) by impermeable rocks above. However, the process is influenced by underground water flows, causing oil to migrate hundreds of kilometres horizontally or even short distances downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. When hydrocarbons are concentrated in a trap, an oil field forms, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping.

The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where hydrocarbons are broken down to oil and natural gas by a set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The latter set is regularly used in petrochemical plants and oil refineries.

Wells are drilled into oil reservoirs to extract the crude oil. "Natural lift" production methods that rely on the natural reservoir pressure to force the oil to the surface are usually sufficient for a while after reservoirs are first tapped. In some reservoirs, such as in the Middle East, the natural pressure is sufficient over a long time. The natural pressure in many reservoirs, however, eventually dissipates. Then the oil must be pumped out using “artificial lift” created by mechanical pumps powered by gas or electricity. Over time, these "primary" methods become less effective and "secondary" production methods may be used. A common secondary method is “waterflood” or injection of water into the reservoir to increase pressure and force the oil to the drilled shaft or "wellbore." Eventually "tertiary" or "enhanced" oil recovery methods may be used to increase the oil's flow characteristics by injecting steam, carbon dioxide and other gases or chemicals into the reservoir. In the United States, primary production methods account for less than 40% of the oil produced on a daily basis, secondary methods account for about half, and tertiary recovery the remaining 10%. Extracting oil (or “bitumen”) from oil/tar sand and oil shale deposits requires mining the sand or shale and heating it in a vessel or retort, or using “in-situ” methods of injecting heated liquids into the deposit and then pumping out the oil-saturated liquid.

Unconventional oil reservoirs

See also: Unconventional oil, Oil sands, and Oil shale reserves

Oil-eating bacteria biodegrades oil that has escaped to the surface. Oil sands are reservoirs of partially biodegraded oil still in the process of escaping and being biodegraded, but they contain so much migrating oil that, although most of it has escaped, vast amounts are still present—more than can be found in conventional oil reservoirs. The lighter fractions of the crude oil are destroyed first, resulting in reservoirs containing an extremely heavy form of crude oil, called crude bitumen in Canada, or extra-heavy crude oil in Venezuela. These two countries have the world's largest deposits of oil sands.

On the other hand, oil shales are source rocks that have not been exposed to heat or pressure long enough to convert their trapped hydrocarbons into crude oil. Technically speaking, oil shales are not really shales and do not really contain oil, but are usually relatively hard rocks called marls containing a waxy substance called kerogen. The kerogen trapped in the rock can be converted into crude oil using heat and pressure to simulate natural processes. The method has been known for centuries and was patented in 1694 under British Crown Patent No. 330 covering, "A way to extract and make great quantityes of pitch, tarr, and oyle out of a sort of stone." Although oil shales are found in many countries, the United States has the world's largest deposits.[25]

Classification

See also: Benchmark (crude oil) A sample of medium heavy crude oil

The petroleum industry generally classifies crude oil by the geographic location it is produced in (e.g. West Texas Intermediate, Brent, or Oman), its API gravity (an oil industry measure of density), and by its sulfur content. Crude oil may be considered light if it has low density or heavy if it has high density; and it may be referred to as sweet if it contains relatively little sulfur or sour if it contains substantial amounts of sulfur.

The geographic location is important because it affects transportation costs to the refinery. Light crude oil is more desirable than heavy oil since it produces a higher yield of gasoline, while sweet oil commands a higher price than sour oil because it has fewer environmental problems and requires less refining to meet sulfur standards imposed on fuels in consuming countries. Each crude oil has unique molecular characteristics which are understood by the use of crude oil assay analysis in petroleum laboratories.

Barrels from an area in which the crude oil's molecular characteristics have been determined and the oil has been classified are used as pricing references throughout the world. Some of the common reference crudes are:

There are declining amounts of these benchmark oils being produced each year, so other oils are more commonly what is actually delivered. While the reference price may be for West Texas Intermediate delivered at Cushing, the actual oil being traded may be a discounted Canadian heavy oil delivered at Hardisty, Alberta, and for a Brent Blend delivered at Shetland, it may be a Russian Export Blend delivered at the port of Primorsk.[27]

Petroleum industry

New York Mercantile Exchange prices for West Texas Intermediate 1996–2009 Main article: Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry is involved in the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting (often with oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category.

Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself, and thus is critical concern to many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, up to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8 km³) of oil per year, and the top oil consumers largely consist of developed nations. In fact, 24% of the oil consumed in 2004 went to the United States alone [28], though by 2007 this had dropped to 21% of world oil consumed.[29]

In the US, in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) represents companies responsible for producing, distributing, refining, transporting and marketing petroleum. This non-profit trade association was founded in 1907, and is the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States.[30]

History

Main article: History of petroleum Oil derrick in Okemah, Oklahoma, 1922.

Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times, and is now important across society, including in economy, politics and technology. The rise in importance was mostly due to the invention of the internal combustion engine, the rise in commercial aviation and the increasing use of plastic.

More than 4000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon; there were oil pits near Ardericca (near Babylon), and a pitch spring on Zacynthus.[31] Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus, one of the tributaries of the Euphrates. Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society.

In the 1850s, the process to distill kerosene from petroleum was invented by Ignacy Łukasiewicz, providing a cheaper alternative to whale oil. The demand for the petroleum as a fuel for lighting in North America and around the world quickly grew.[32] The world's first commercial oil well was drilled in Poland in 1853. Oil exploration developed in many parts of the world with the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan, taking the lead in production by the end of the 19th century.[33] Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by the mid 1900s. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, however, Saudi Arabia and Russia surpassed the U.S.

Today, about 90% of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40% of total energy consumption in the United States, but is responsible for only 2% of electricity generation. Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities.

The top three oil producing countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States.[34] About 80% of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5% coming from the Arab 5: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Canada and Venezuela and oil shale. While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, and Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future.

Price

Main article: Price of petroleum

After the collapse of the OPEC-administered pricing system in 1985, and a short lived experiment with netback pricing, oil-exporting countries adopted a market-linked pricing mechanism.[35] First adopted by PEMEX in 1986, market-linked pricing was widely accepted, and by 1988 became and still is the main method for pricing crude oil in international trade.[35] The current reference, or pricing markers, are Brent, WTI, and Dubai/Oman.[35]

Uses

Further information: Petroleum products

The chemical structure of petroleum is heterogeneous, composed of hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. Because of this, petroleum may be taken to oil refineries and the hydrocarbon chemicals separated by distillation and treated by other chemical processes, to be used for a variety of purposes. See Petroleum products.

Fuels

The most common distillations of petroleum are fuels. Fuels include (by increasing molecular masses):

Other derivatives

Certain types of resultant hydrocarbons may be mixed with other non-hydrocarbons, to create other end products:

Petroleum by country

Consumption statistics

Global fossil carbon emissions, an indicator of consumption, for 1800–2007. Total is black, Oil is in blue.

World energy consumption, 1980–2030. Source: International Energy Outlook 2006.

daily oil consumption from 1980 to 2006

oil consumption by percentage of total per region from 1980 to 2006: red=USA, blue=Europe, yellow=Asia+Oceania

Consumption

Oil consumption per capita (darker colors represent more consumption).

This table orders the amount of petroleum consumed in 2008 in thousand barrels (bbl) per day and in thousand cubic metres (m3) per day:[36][37][38]

Consuming Nation 2008 (1000 bbl/day) (1000 m3/day) population in millions bbl/year per capita
United States 1 19,497.95 3,099.9 314 22.6
China 7,831.00 1,245.0 1345 2.1
Japan 2 4,784.85 760.7 127 13.7
India 2 2,962.00 470.9 1198 0.9
Russia 1 2,916.00 463.6 140 7.6
Germany 2 2,569.28 408.5 82 11.4
Brazil 2,485.00 395.1 193 4.7
Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 2,376.00 377.8 25 33.7
Canada 2,261.36 359.5 33 24.6
South Korea 2 2,174.91 345.8 48 16.4
Mexico 1 2,128.46 338.4 109 7.1
France 2 1,986.26 315.8 62 11.6
Iran (OPEC) 1,741.00 276.8 74 8.6
United Kingdom 1 1,709.66 271.8 61 10.1
Italy 2 1,639.01 260.6 60 10

Source: US Energy Information Administration

Population Data:[39]

1 peak production of oil already passed in this state

2 This country is not a major oil producer

Production

For oil reserves by country, see Oil reserves#Proven reserves in order. Oil producing countries Graph of Top Oil Producing Countries 1960–2006, including Soviet Union[40]

In petroleum industry parlance, production refers to the quantity of crude extracted from reserves, not the literal creation of the product.

# Producing Nation 103bbl/d (2006) 103bbl/d (2007) 103bbl/d (2008)
1 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 10,665 10,234 10,782
2 Russia 1 9,677 9,876 9,789
3 United States 1 8,331 8,481 8,514
4 Iran (OPEC) 4,148 4,043 4,174
5 China 3,845 3,901 3,973
6 Canada 2 3,288 3,358 3,350
7 Mexico 1 3,707 3,501 3,185
8 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 2,945 2,948 3,046
9 Kuwait (OPEC) 2,675 2,613 2,742
10 Venezuela (OPEC) 1 2,803 2,667 2,643
11 Norway 1 2,786 2,565 2,466
12 Brazil 2,166 2,279 2,401
13 Iraq (OPEC) 3 2,008 2,094 2,385
14 Algeria (OPEC) 2,122 2,173 2,179
15 Nigeria (OPEC) 2,443 2,352 2,169
16 Angola (OPEC) 1,435 1,769 2,014
17 Libya (OPEC) 1,809 1,845 1,875
18 United Kingdom 1,689 1,690 1,584
19 Kazakhstan 1,388 1,445 1,429
20 Qatar (OPEC) 1,141 1,136 1,207
21 Indonesia 1,102 1,044 1,051
22 India 854 881 884
23 Azerbaijan 648 850 875
24 Argentina 802 791 792
25 Oman 743 714 761
26 Malaysia 729 703 727
27 Egypt 667 664 631
28 Colombia 544 543 601
29 Australia 552 595 586
30 Ecuador (OPEC) 536 512 505
31 Sudan 380 466 480
32 Syria 449 446 426
33 Equatorial Guinea 386 400 359
34 Thailand 334 349 361
35 Vietnam 362 352 314
36 Yemen 377 361 300
37 Denmark 344 314 289
38 Gabon 237 244 248
39 South Africa 204 199 195
40 Turkmenistan No data 180 189

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

1 Peak production of conventional oil already passed in this state

2 Although Canadian conventional oil production is declining, total oil production is increasing as oil sands production grows. If oil sands are included, it has the world's second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.

3 Though still a member, Iraq has not been included in production figures since 1998

Export

See also: Fossil fuel exporters

Oil exports by country

In order of net exports in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Exporting Nation (2006) (103bbl/d) (103m3/d)
1 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 8,651 1,376
2 Russia 1 6,565 1,044
3 Norway 1 2,542 404
4 Iran (OPEC) 2,519 401
5 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 2,515 400
6 Venezuela (OPEC) 1 2,203 350
7 Kuwait (OPEC) 2,150 342
8 Nigeria (OPEC) 2,146 341
9 Algeria (OPEC) 1 1,847 297
10 Mexico 1 1,676 266
11 Libya (OPEC) 1 1,525 242
12 Iraq (OPEC) 1,438 229
13 Angola (OPEC) 1,363 217
14 Kazakhstan 1,114 177
15 Canada 2 1,071 170

Source: US Energy Information Administration

1 peak production already passed in this state

2 Canadian statistics are complicated by the fact it is both an importer and exporter of crude oil, and refines large amounts of oil for the U.S. market. It is the leading source of U.S. imports of oil and products, averaging 2.5 MMbbl/d in August 2007. [2].

Total world production/consumption (as of 2005) is approximately 84 million barrels per day (13,400,000 m3/d).

See also: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Import

Oil imports by country

In order of net imports in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Importing Nation (2006) (103bbl/day) (103m3/day)
1 United States 1 12,220 1,943
2 Japan 5,097 810
3 China 2 3,438 547
4 Germany 2,483 395
5 South Korea 2,150 342
6 France 1,893 301
7 India 1,687 268
8 Italy 1,558 248
9 Spain 1,555 247
10 Republic of China (Taiwan) 942 150
11 Netherlands 936 149
12 Singapore 787 125
13 Thailand 606 96
14 Turkey 576 92
15 Belgium 546 87

Source: US Energy Information Administration[not in citation given]

1 peak production of oil already passed in this state

2 Major oil producer whose production is still increasing

Non-producing consumers

Countries whose oil production is 10% or less of their consumption.

# Consuming Nation (bbl/day) (m³/day)
1 Japan 5,578,000 886,831
2 Germany 2,677,000 425,609
3 South Korea 2,061,000 327,673
4 France 2,060,000 327,514
5 Italy 1,874,000 297,942
6 Spain 1,537,000 244,363
7 Netherlands 946,700 150,513
8 Turkey 575,011 91,663

Source: CIA World Factbook[not in citation given]

Environmental effects

Diesel fuel spill on a road Main article: Environmental issues with petroleum

Because petroleum is a naturally occurring substance, its presence in the environment need not be the result of human causes such as accidents and routine activities (like seismic exploration, drilling, extraction, refining and combustion). Phenomena such as seeps[41] and tar pits are examples of areas that petroleum naturally affects. Regardless of source, petroleum's effects when released into the environment are similar.

Extraction

Oil extraction is simply the removal of oil from the reservoir (oil pool). Oil extraction is costly and sometimes environmentally damaging, although Dr. John Hunt of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution pointed out in a 1981 paper that over 70% of the reserves in the world are associated with visible macroseepages, and many oil fields are found due to natural seeps. Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine environment.[42]

Oil spills

Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill Main article: Oil spill

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged natural ecosystems in Alaska, the Galapagos Islands, France and many other places.

The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (e.g., Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz). Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. This can kill sea birds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms it coats. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.

Control of oil spills is difficult, requires ad hoc methods, and often a large amount of manpower. The dropping of bombs and incendiary devices from aircraft on the Torrey Canyon wreck produced poor results;[43] modern techniques would include pumping the oil from the wreck, like in the Prestige oil spill or the Erika oil spill.[44]

Though crude oil is predominantly composed of various hydrocarbons, certain nitrogen heterocylic compounds, such as pyridine, picoline, and quinoline are reported as contaminants associated with crude oil, as well as facilities processing oil shale or coal, and have also been found at legacy wood treatment sites. These compounds have a very high water solubility, and thus tend to dissolve and move with water. Certain naturally occurring bacteria, such as Micrococcus, Arthrobacter, and Rhodococcus and have been shown to degrade these contaminants. [45]

Tarballs

A tarball is a blob of oil (not to be confused with tar, which is typically derived from pine trees rather than petroleum) which has been weathered after floating in the ocean. Tarballs are an aquatic pollutant in most environments, although they can occur naturally, for example, in the Santa Barbara Channel of California.[46][47] Their concentration and features have been used to assess the extent of oil spills. Their composition can be used to identify their sources of origin,[48][49] and tarballs themselves may be dispersed over long distances by deep sea currents.[47] They are slowly decomposed by bacteria, including Chromobacterium violaceum, Cladosporium resinae, Bacillus submarinus, Micrococcus varians, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida marina and Saccharomyces estuari.[46]

Whales

James S. Robbins has argued that the advent of petroleum-refined kerosene saved some species of great whales from extinction by providing an inexpensive substitute for whale oil, thus eliminating the economic imperative for open-boat whaling.[50]

Alternatives to petroleum

Further information: Renewable energy

In the United States in 2007 about 70% of petroleum was used for transportation (e.g. gasoline, diesel, jet fuel), 24% by industry (e.g. production of plastics), 5% for residential and commercial uses, and 2% for electricity production.[51] Outside of the US, a higher proportion of petroleum tends to be used for electricity.[52]

Alternatives to petroleum-based vehicle fuels

Main articles: Alternative propulsion, Biofuel, and Hydrogen economy

Alternative propulsion refers to both:

Currently, cars can be classified into the following groups:

Alternatives to using oil in industry

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (July 2008)

Biological feedstocks do exist for industrial uses such as plastic production.[54]

Alternatives to burning petroleum for electricity

Main articles: Alternative energy, Nuclear power, and Renewable energy

In oil producing countries with little refinery capacity, oil is sometimes burned to produce electricity. Renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind power, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels might someday be used to replace some of these generators, but today the primary alternatives remain large scale hydroelectricity, nuclear and coal-fired generation.

Future of petroleum production

Consumption in the twentieth century has been abundantly pushed by automobile growth; the 1985-2003 oil glut even fuelled the sales of low economy vehicles (SUVs) in OECD countries. In 2008, the economic crisis seems to have some impact on the sales of such vehicles; still, the 2008 oil consumption shows a small increase. The BRIC countries might also kick in, as China briefly was the first automobile market in December 2009.[55] The immediate outlook still hints upwards. In the long term, uncertainties linger; the OPEC believes that the OECD countries will push low consumption policies at some point in the future; when that happens, it will definitely curb the oil sales, and both OPEC and EIA kept lowering their 2020 consumption estimates during the past 5 years.[56] Oil products are more and more in competition with alternative sources, mainly coal and natural gas, both cheaper sources.

Production will also face an increasingly complex situation; while OPEC countries still have large reserves at low production prices, newly found reservoirs often lead to higher prices; offshore giants such as Tupi, Guara and Tiber demand high investments and ever-increasing technological abilities. Subsalt reservoirs such as Tupi were unknown in the twentieth century, mainly because the industry was unable to probe them. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques (example: DaQing, China [57] ) will continue to play a major role in increasing the world's recoverable oil.

Hubbert peak theory

Main articles: Peak oil and Hubbert peak theory

The Hubbert peak theory (also known as peak oil) posits that future petroleum production (whether for individual oil wells, entire oil fields, whole countries, or worldwide production) will eventually peak and then decline at a similar rate to the rate of increase before the peak as these reserves are exhausted. The peak of oil discoveries was in 1965, and oil production per year has surpassed oil discoveries every year since 1980.[58]

Controversy surrounds predictions of the timing of the global peak, as these predictions are dependent on the past production and discovery data used in the calculation as well as how unconventional reserves are considered.[citation needed] Also, these predictions do not take into account outside elements such as the current economic crisis (2008).[citation needed] Also, many Peak Oil promoters proposed many different dates, some of them passed already.[citation needed] Despite these uncertainties, Hubbert applied his theory to predict the peak of U.S. oil production at a date between 1966 and 1970. This prediction was based on data available at the time of his publication in 1956. In the same paper, Hubbert predicts the world Peak Oil for the year 2000.[59]

It is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region, due to the lack of knowledge and/or transparency in accounting of global oil reserves.[60] Based on available production data, proponents have previously predicted the peak for the world to be in years 1989, 1995, or 1995-2000. Some of these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s, and the consequent reduction in global consumption, the effect of which was to delay the date of any peak by several years. Just as the 1971 U.S. peak in oil production was only clearly recognized after the fact, a peak in world production will be difficult to discern until production clearly drops off.

See also

Energy portal
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Notes

  1. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th ed.), Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-920687-2
  2. ^ {{cite web|url=http://www.howstuffworks.com/oil-refining.htm|title=HowStuffWorks "How Oil Refining Works"
  3. ^ Bauer (1546)
  4. ^ a b Hyne (2001), pp. 1–4.
  5. ^ Speight (1999), p. 215–216.
  6. ^ Alboudwarej et al. (Summer 2006) (PDF). Highlighting Heavy Oil. Oilfield Review. http://www.slb.com/media/services/resources/oilfieldreview/ors06/sum06/heavy_oil.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  7. ^ "Oil Sands – Glossary". Mines and Minerals Act. Government of Alberta. 2007. http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OilSands/1106.asp. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  8. ^ "Oil Sands in Canada and Venezuela". Infomine Inc.. 2008. http://oilsands.infomine.com/countries/. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  9. ^ IEA Key World Energy Statistics
  10. ^ "Crude oil is made into different fuels"
  11. ^ EIA reserves estimates
  12. ^ CERA report on total world oil
  13. ^ Heat of Combustion of Fuels
  14. ^ Use of ozone depleting substances in laboratories. TemaNord 2003:516.
  15. ^ United States Bureau of Standards, "Thermal Properties of Petroleum Products". Miscellaneous Publication No. 97, November 9th, 1929.
  16. ^ Kvenvolden, K (2006). "Organic geochemistry – A retrospective of its first 70 years☆". Organic Geochemistry 37: 1. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.09.001.
  17. ^ Petroleum Study
  18. ^ The "Oil Window"
  19. ^ Kenney et al., Dismissal of the Claims of a Biological Connection for Natural Petroleum, Energia 2001
  20. ^ Kolesnikov et al., Methane-Derived Hydrocarbons Produced Under Upper-Mantle Conditions, Nature, 2009
  21. ^ http://static.scribd.com/docs/j79lhbgbjbqrb.pdf
  22. ^ Anton Kolesnikov, Vladimir G. Kutcherov, Alexander F. Goncharov (26 July 2009). "Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions". Nature Geoscience 2 (8 pages=566–570): 566. doi:10.1038/ngeo591.
  23. ^ Glasby, Geoffrey P. (2006). "Abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons: an historical overview" (PDF). Resource Geology 56 (1): 83–96. doi:10.1111/j.1751-3928.2006.tb00271.x. http://static.scribd.com/docs/j79lhbgbjbqrb.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  24. ^ Hydrocarbons in the deep Earth? July 2009 (Press release)
  25. ^ Lambertson, Giles (2008-02-16). "Oil Shale: Ready to Unlock the Rock". Construction Equipment Guide. http://www.cegltd.com/story.asp?story=10092. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  26. ^ http://crudemarketing.chevron.com/posted_pricing_daily_california.asp
  27. ^ "Light Sweet Crude Oil". About the Exchange. New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). 2006. http://www.nymex.com/lsco_fut_descri.aspx. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  28. ^ "International Energy Annual 2004" (XLS). Energy Information Administration. 2006-07-14. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tablee2.xls.
  29. ^ "Yearbook 2008 - crude oil". Energy data. http://yearbook.enerdata.net.
  30. ^ "Western States Petroleum Association - About Us". http://www.wspa.org/about/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  31. ^ This article incorporates text from the article "Petroleum" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
  32. ^ Maugeri (2006), p. 3
  33. ^ Akiner(2004), p. 5
  34. ^ InfoPlease
  35. ^ a b c Mabro (2006), p. 351.
  36. ^ U.S. Energy Information Administration. Excel file from this web page. Table Posted: March 1, 2010
  37. ^ From DSW-Datareport 2008 ("Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung")
  38. ^ One cubic metre of oil is equivalent to 6.28981077 barrels of oil
  39. ^ IBGE
  40. ^ World Crude Oil Production
  41. ^ http://seeps.wr.usgs.gov/ Natural Oil and Gas Seeps in California
  42. ^ Waste discharges during the offshore oil and gas activity by Stanislave Patin, tr. Elena Cascio
  43. ^ Torrey Canyon bombing by the Navy and RAF
  44. ^ Pumping of the Erika cargo
  45. ^ Sims, G. K. and E.J. O'Loughlin. 1989. Degradation of pyridines in the environment. CRC Critical Reviews in Environmental Control. 19(4): 309-340.
  46. ^ a b A. Y. Itah and J. P. Essien, Growth Profile and Hydrocarbonoclastic Potential of Microorganisms Isolated from Tarballs in the Bight of Bonny, Nigeria, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Volume 21, Numbers 6-7, October, 2005, doi 10.1007/s11274-004-6694-z, p 1317-1322
  47. ^ a b Frances D. Hostettler, Robert J. Rosenbauer, Thomas D. Lorenson, Jennifer Dougherty, Geochemical characterization of tarballs on beaches along the California coast. Part I-- Shallow seepage impacting the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel, Organic Geochemistry, Volume 35, Issue 6, June 2004, Pages 725-746, ISSN 0146-6380, DOI: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2004.01.022. [1]
  48. ^ Anthony H Knap, Kathryn A Burns, Rodger Dawson, Manfred Ehrhardt and Karsten H Palmork, Dissolved/dispersed hydrocarbons, tarballs and the surface microlayer: Experiences from an IOC/UNEP Workshop in Bermuda, December, 1984, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 17, Issue 7, July 1986, Pages 313-319. doi:10.1016/0025-326X(86)90217-1
  49. ^ Zhendi Wang, Merv Fingas, Michael Landriault, Lise Sigouin, Bill Castle, David Hostetter, Dachung Zhang, Brad Spencer, Identification and Linkage of Tarballs from the Coasts of Vancouver Island and Northern California Using GC/MS and Isotopic Techniques, Journal of High Resolution Chromatography, Volume 21 Issue 7, Pages 383 - 395, doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-4168(19980701)21:7<383::AID-JHRC383>3.0.CO;2-3
  50. ^ How Capitalism Saved the Whales by James S. Robbins, The Freeman, August, 1992.
  51. ^ "U.S. Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2007". Energy Information Administration
  52. ^ needtitle UN Energy Program
  53. ^ Amory B. Lovins, E. Kyle Datta, Odd-Even Bustnes, Jonathan G. Koomey, Nathan J. Glasgow. "Winning the oil endgame" Rocky Mountain Institute
  54. ^ Bioprocessing Seattle Times (2003)
  55. ^ Chris Hogg (2009-02-10). "China's car industry overtakes US". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7879372.stm.
  56. ^ OPEC Secretariat (2008). "World Oil Outlook 2008". http://www.opec.org/library/World%20Oil%20Outlook/pdf/WOO2008.pdf.
  57. ^ Ni Weiling (2006-10-16). "Daqing Oilfield rejuvenated by virtue of technology". http://en.ce.cn/Insight/200610/16/t20061016_8980162.shtml.
  58. ^ Campbell CJ (2000-12). "Peak Oil Presentation at the Technical University of Clausthal". http://energycrisis.org/de/lecture.html.
  59. ^ Hubbert, Marion King; Shell Development Company (1956). "Nuclear energy and the fossil fuels". Drilling and Production Practice (Washington, DC: American Petroleum Institute) 95. http://www.hubbertpeak.com/Hubbert/1956/1956.pdf.
  60. ^ New study raises doubts about Saudi oil reserves

References

External links

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