Sound waves travel underground, bounce off of the different types of rock, and return to the surface. Sensors on the ground interpret the returning sound waves to determine the underground geological layout and possibility of a petroleum reservoir. The amount of petroleum in a reservoir is measured in barrels or tons. An oil barrel is about 42 gallons. This measurement is usually used by oil producers in the United States. Oil producers in Europe and Asia tend to measure in metric tons.
There are about 6 to 8 barrels of oil in a metric ton. The conversion is imprecise because different varieties of oil weigh different amounts, depending on the amount of impurities. Crude oil is frequently found in reservoirs along with natural gas. In the past, natural gas was either burned or allowed to escape into the atmosphere.
Now, technology has been developed to capture the natural gas and either reinject it into the well or compress it into liquid natural gas LNG. LNG is easily transportable and has versatile uses. Extracting Petroleum In some places, petroleum bubbles to the surface of the Earth.
In parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, for instance, porous rock allows oil to seep to the surface in small ponds. However, most oil is trapped in underground oil reservoirs. The total amount of petroleum in a reservoir is called oil-in-place. These petroleum liquids may be too difficult, dangerous, or expensive to drill.
Drilling can either be developmental, exploratory, or directional. Drilling in an area where oil reserves have already been found is called developmental drilling.
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, has the largest oil reserves in the United States. Developmental drilling in Prudhoe Bay includes new wells and expanding extraction technology. Drilling where there are no known reserves is called exploratory drilling. McCarthy struck oil 38 times in the s, earning millions of dollars. Directional drilling involves drilling vertically to a known source of oil, then veering the drill bit at an angle to access additional resources.
Accusations of directional drilling led to the first Gulf War in Iraq accused Kuwait of using directional drilling techniques to extract oil from Iraqi oil reservoirs near the Kuwaiti border.
Iraq subsequently invaded Kuwait, an act which drew international attention and intervention. After the war, the border between Iraq and Kuwait was redrawn, with the reservoirs now belonging to Kuwait.
Oil Rigs On land, oil can be drilled with an apparatus called an oil rig or drilling rig. Offshore, oil is drilled from an oil platform. Primary Production Most modern wells use an air rotary drilling rig, which can operate 24 hours a day. In this process, engines power a drill bit. A drill bit is a cutting tool used to create a circular hole. The drill bits used in air rotary drilling rigs are hollow steel, with tungsten rods used to cut the rock.
Petroleum drill bits can be 36 centimeters 14 inches in diameter. As the drill bit rotates and cuts through the earth, small pieces of rock are chipped off. A powerful flow of air is pumped down the center of the hollow drill, and comes out through the bottom of the drill bit. The air then rushes back toward the surface, carrying with it tiny chunks of rock. Geologists on site can study these pieces of pulverized rock to determine the different rock strata the drill encounters.
When the drill hits oil, some of the oil naturally rises from the ground, moving from an area of high pressure to low pressure. It is also one of the most dangerous, and a piece of equipment called a blowout preventer redistributes pressure to stop such a gusher. Pumps are used to extract oil. Most oil rigs have two sets of pumps: mud pumps and extraction pumps.
Mud pumps circulate drilling fluid. The petroleum industry uses a wide variety of extraction pumps. Which pump to use depends on the geography, quality, and position of the oil reservoir.
Submersible pumps, for example, are submerged directly into the fluid. A gas pump, also called a bubble pump, uses compressed air to force the petroleum to the surface or well. One of the most familiar types of extraction pumps is the pumpjack , the upper part of a piston pump. A crank moves the large, hammer-shaped pumpjack up and down. Far below the surface, the motion of the pumpjack moves a hollow piston up and down, constantly carrying petroleum back to the surface or well.
Successful drilling sites can produce oil for about 30 years, although some produce for many more decades. Other methods are necessary to extract this petroleum, a process called secondary recovery. Vacuuming the extra oil out was a method used in the s and early 20th century, but it captured only thinner oil components, and left behind great stores of heavy oil. Water flooding was discovered by accident. In the s, oil producers in Pennsylvania noticed that abandoned oil wells were accumulating rainwater and groundwater.
The weight of the water in the boreholes forced oil out of the reservoirs and into nearby wells, increasing their production. Oil producers soon began intentionally flooding wells as a way to extract more oil. The most prevalent secondary recovery method today is gas drive. During this process, a well is intentionally drilled deeper than the oil reservoir. The deeper well hits a natural gas reservoir, and the high-pressure gas rises, forcing the oil out of its reservoir.
Oil Platforms Drilling offshore is much more expensive than drilling onshore. It usually uses the same drilling techniques as onshore, but requires a massive structure that can sustain the tremendous strength of ocean waves in stormy seas. Offshore drilling platforms are some of the largest manmade structures in the world.
They often include housing accommodations for people who work on the platform, as well as docking facilities and a helicopter landing pad to transport workers. The platform can either be tethered to the ocean floor and float, or can be a rigid structure that is fixed to the bottom of the ocean, sea, or lake with concrete or steel legs. More than 70 people work on the platform, in three-week shifts. The platform is meters feet tall and is anchored to the ocean floor. About , tons of solid ballast were added to give it additional stability.
The platform can store up to 1. In total, Hibernia weighs 1. However, the platform is still vulnerable to the crushing weight and strength of icebergs. Its edges are serrated and sharp to withstand the impact of sea ice or icebergs. Oil platforms can cause enormous environmental disasters. Problems with the drilling equipment can cause the oil to explode out of the well and into the ocean. Repairing the well hundreds of meters below the ocean is extremely difficult, expensive, and slow.
Millions of barrels of oil can spill into the ocean before the well is plugged. When oil spills in the ocean, it floats on the water and wreaks havoc on the animal population. One of its most devastating effects is on birds. Oil destroys the waterproofing abilities of feathers, and birds are not insulated against the cold ocean water. Thousands can die of hypothermia. Fish and marine mammals, too, are threatened by oil spills. The dark shadows cast by oil spills can look like food.
A massive oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon , exploded in This was the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. Eleven platform workers died, and more than 4 million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. More than 40, barrels flowed into the ocean every day. Eight national parks were threatened, the economies of communities along the Gulf Coast were threatened as the tourism and fishing industries declined, and more than 6, animals died. Rigs to Reefs Offshore oil platforms can also act as artificial reefs.
They provide a surface substrate for algae, coral, oysters, and barnacles. This artificial reef can attract fish and marine mammals, and create a thriving ecosystem. Until the s, oil platforms were deconstructed and removed from the oceans, and the metal was sold as scrap. Now, oil platforms are either toppled by underwater explosion , removed and towed to a new location, or partially deconstructed. In fact, oil is used to create a wide range of products, such as propane, asphalt, petrochemical feedstocks and more.
Most Canadian oil is used for transportation fuels, essential to the mobility of people, goods, and services. According to Statistics Canada, in there were Refineries turn crude oil into usable products such as transportation fuels — gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels. Gasoline: Designed for internal combustion engines, commonly used in private and commercial vehicles.
Diesel: Designed for engines commonly used in trucks, buses and public transport, locomotives, farm and heavy equipment. Diesel contains more energy and power density than gasoline. Aviation fuels: Specialized petroleum-based fuels used to power various types of aircraft for commercial travel and shipping.
Crude oils are sent to refineries where they become feedstock. The feedstock is used in petrochemical plants and turned into plastic to make essential products used in our everyday lives. Here are some of the common petroleum products that are an important part of our modern lifestyle. Drilling offshore is much more expensive than drilling onshore. It requires an enormous structure that can withstand the huge force of ocean waves. The platform can be tied to the ocean floor and float.
Or, it can be a rigid structure that is fixed to the bottom of the ocean with concrete or steel legs. Oil platforms can cause major environmental disasters. Problems with the drilling equipment can cause the oil to explode out of the well and into the ocean.
Millions of barrels of oil can be released before the well is plugged. When oil spills in the ocean, it floats on the water. Its presence causes enormous damage to local animal populations. Birds, fish and marine mammals are all threatened by oil spills. Crude oil does not always have to be extracted through deep drilling. It sometimes seeps all the way to the surface and bubbles above ground. Bitumen is a form of petroleum that is black, extremely sticky and sometimes rises to Earth's surface.
In its natural state, bitumen is typically mixed with "oil sands" or " tar sands. Unfortunately, refining bitumen is both costly and harmful to the environment. However, we depend on bitumen for its unique properties: about 85 percent of the bitumen extracted is used to make asphalt to pave and patch our roads. A small percentage is used for roofing and other products.
Most of the world's bitumen reserves are in the eastern part of Alberta, Canada. These reserves are located beneath part of the boreal forest, also called the taiga.
This makes extraction both difficult and environmentally dangerous. It is sometimes called the "lungs of the planet" because it filters tons of water and oxygen through the leaves of its trees every day.
Every spring, the taiga releases immense amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere and keeps our air clean. The taiga is also home to a wide variety of animal life. Before it can be converted into fuel or other products, crude oil first needs to be purified. This process is known as refining. Crude oil comes out of the ground with impurities, from sulfur to sand.
These unwanted elements have to be separated out through heating the crude oil. Oil was not always used by millions of people as it is today. However, it has always been an important part of many cultures. In many parts of the world it was used as a heating fuel, in lamps and for other purposes. Modern oil production began in the s, after the Industrial Revolution created many new uses for petroleum. Machinery powered by steam engines quickly became too slow, small-scale and expensive.
As a result, petroleum-based fuel was soon in great demand. The invention of the mass-produced automobile in the early 20th century further increased demand for petroleum. Petroleum production has expanded greatly over the years. In , the United States produced 2, barrels of oil. By , that number was million barrels per year. Today, the United States produces about 6.
More than 70 million barrels are produced worldwide every day. That is almost 49, barrels per minute. The United States uses far more oil than any other country. In , it used more than 19 million barrels of oil every day. The gasoline we depend on for transportation to school, work or vacation comes from crude oil. A barrel of petroleum produces about 72 liters 19 gallons of gasoline and is used by people all over the world to power cars, boats, jets, and scooters.
Petroleum is not just used as a fuel. It is also an ingredient in thousands of everyday items, from nail polish to vitamin capsules to garbage bags. There are major disadvantages to extracting fossil fuels. It is a problematic business. Carbon, an essential element on Earth, makes up most of the hydrocarbons in petroleum. Carbon is absorbed by plants and is part of every living organism.
It is naturally released through volcanoes and evaporation, for example. When carbon is released into the atmosphere, it absorbs and retains heat. It balances Earth's temperature and makes our planet livable. Vast amounts of carbon are stored underground.
It is necessary for carbon to stay underground in order for temperatures on Earth to remain stable. However, since the s, large amounts of fossil fuel have been drilled and brought up for energy or fuel. This process releases the carbon that has been left underground. This extra carbon affects the quality of our air, water, and overall climate , causing Earth to warm. Drilling for natural resources not only releases the carbon stored in fossil fuels.
It also releases the carbon stored in the forest itself. Burning gasoline is particularly harmful to the environment. Every liter gallon of gas that is combusted in a car's engine releases about nine kilograms 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. Gasoline and diesel also directly pollute the atmosphere. They release toxic chemicals. Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids. Natural gas. Also in Hydrocarbon gas liquids explained Hydrocarbon gas liquids Where do hydrocarbon gas liquids come from? Transporting and storing Uses of hydrocarbon gas liquids Imports and exports Prices.
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