2. Outline
What is petroleum ?
Petroleum formation.
where is petroleum found ?
How is petroleum obtained?
Petroleum composition.
Life without oil? Impossible!
Advantages and disadvantages of oil.
Facts about oil.
3. What is petroleum ?
A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and
solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth's surface,
can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline,
naphtha, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt
and is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products.
The word petroleum comes from the Latin petra, meaning “rock,”
andoleum, meaning “oil.”
4. The oil industry classifies "crude" by the location of its origin and by its
relative weight or viscosity ("light", "intermediate" or "heavy"). The relative
content of sulfur in natural oil deposits also results in referring to oil as
"sweet," which means it contains relatively little sulfur, or as "sour," which
means it contains substantial amounts of sulfur.
5. How is petroleum found ?
Petroleum forms from the interaction of various hydrocarbons, ancient
marine life and certain minerals, such as sulfur, under intense pressure.It
is a fossil fuel that is the byproduct from the remains of bacteria, plants and
algae.
The most important factor is temperature; oil generation starts at 50 celsuis
degrees , conversion to oil peaks at 90 degrees and stops at 175 degrees.
This range of temperature is known as the oil window.
Below and above the oil window, decay of organic remains will generate gas.
6. Temperatures at the lower end of the oil window will generate heavy oils,
with increasing temperatures generating lighter oils.
If the temperature of the rock becomes too high(above 260 celsuis degrees)
then the organic material(and therefore the oil generation) is destroyed.
However, even at oil formation conditions, oil formation still takes millions of
years.
7. Where in the world is petroleum located?
Conventional oil fields : petroleum is in liquid and gas form. Most of it is easy
to pump to the surface, as it is initially pressurized enough to lift itself
against the force of gravity. Most of these oil fields have been found in the
Middle East, although much oil has been discovered in Texas, Canada, Alaska,
Russia, Venezuela, the North Sea and many other regions.
8. Unconventional oil fields : With the depletion of conventional oil, however, oil
shale is being exploited as a replacement. Oil shale is a solid, kerogen-bearing
rock that is found in wide formations. This petroleum is generally more
difficult to refine than conventional oil because it is thicker, even when
liquefied, and contains more impurities. Shale oil is found in the Bakken
formation in Montana and Favel formations in Canada, it was discovered in
the USA recently.
10. How is petroleum obtained?
Oil companies obtain petroleum or crude oil by discovering oil reservoirs
and establishing oil rigs. The oil rigs drill into the reservoirs and extract
petroleum, which refineries process into products such as gasoline, diesel
fuel, asphalt and petroleum jelly.
11. Petroleum composition :
Petroleum, or crude oil as it is now usually referred too when raw, contains
several chemical compounds, the most prolific being the hydrocarbons
themselves which give the petroleum composition its combustible nature.
Although the composition of petroleum will contain many trace elements the
key compounds are carbon (93% – 97%), hydrogen (10% - 14%), nitrogen (0.1% -
2%), oxygen (01.% - 1.5%) and sulphur (0.5% - 6%) with a few trace metals
making up a very small percentage of the petroleum composition.
12. The actual overall properties of each different petroleum source are defined
by the percentage of the four main hydrocarbons found within petroleum as
part of the petroleum composition.
The percentages for these hydrocarbons can vary greatly, giving the crude oil a
quite distinct compound personality depending upon geographic region. These
hydrocarbons are typically present in petroleum at the following percentages:
paraffins (15% - 60%), napthenes (30% - 60%), aromatics (3% to 30%), with
asphaltics making up the remainder.
13. Life without oil? Impossible!
Crude oil is the most important natural resource of the industrialized nations.
14. Uses of oil :
GASOLINE is the most commonly used product by the world for the
transportation needs.
15. JET FUEL Kerosene is the standard type of jet fuel.
16. PLASTICS All plastic, is made from petrochemicals. Every product made from
or containing plastic is a product that exists only through the distillation of
petroleum.
SYNTHETIC FIBERS Polyester, nylon, and acrylic are all derived from
petrochemicals. They are used for curtains, carpets, rope and even our
everyday clothing.
17. • MEDICINE Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient in
many pain reliever medicines, is manufactured from
petrochemicals.
• DETERGENT All soapless detergents used to wash clothes and
dishes are derived from the petrochemical glycerin.
18. Advantages of petroleum :
High Energy Density Oil has one of the highest energy densities which means
that a small amount of oil can produce a large amount of energy. This makes it
very useful as its high energy density has made it the preferred choice for use as
fuel in automobiles.
Easy Availability, Infrastructure for Transport and Use Oil is widely distributed
in almost all parts of the world. Also there exists a massive infrastructure to
transport oil to other places through ships, pipelines and tankers. This means that
oil is available throughout the world.
Crucial for wide variety of Industries Besides Transport,Oil is a critical
component in a wide variety of other industries. It is difficult to think of a
commodity which has such a huge role to play in a wide variety of human products
from Vaseline, cloth, medicines etc.
19. Easy to Produce and Refine – Oil is not very difficult to produce though most
of the low cost locations have already been depleted. Now Oil is being mined
off the coasts in seas and also tar sands. Oil Refinery Technology is also quite
old and mature which implies that refining of oil to get valuable products like
diesel, petrol is also quite easy.
Constant Power Source and Reliability - Unlike solar and wind energy, oil
can produce power 24/7 and is highly reliable. Oil engines are a mature
technology and highly reliable to work with.
20. Disadvantages of petroleum :
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) One of the biggest Disadvantages of Oil is
that it releases Carbon Dioxide which has been sequestered for millions of
years in the dead bodies of plant and animals leading to the Global Warming
Effect.
Pollution of Water and Earth Oil Spills have caused massive pollution of
water bodies as massive oil supertankers lead oil. This leads to the death of
thousands of animals and fishes every year beside devastating the local
ecology. The BP Oil Spill caused billions of dollars in losses and even to this
day small Oil Spills keep happening.
21. Growth in Terrorism and Violence due to the desire of powerful countries
to obtain more oil and control the largest oil reservoirs in the world.
Emission of Harmful Substances like Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Acid
Rain Oil Plants emit harmful substances such as Sulfur Dioxide which cause
health hazards among the surrounding population and Acid Rain. While
modern equipment has reduced the emission of these harmful substances, it
is still very harmful to humans.
22. Facts about oil :
The US has the 10th largest oil reserve in the world. Venezuela has the
largest, with 298.35 billion barrels compared to the US’ 33 billion barrels.
The US consumes more oil than any other country -- 1.85 billion barrels per
day.
Gasoline makes up 45% of crude oil.
Petrochemicals (found in oil) helped produce the electronic device you are
reading on right now.
23. Oil is also referred to as “Texas Tea” and “Black Gold.”
The process of oil drilling begins with a drill cutting through the earth,
allowing air to be pumped downwards, and once the oil is hit, it rushes to the
surface and can shoot dozens of meters out of the ground.
Texas has the largest oil reserve in the US, and is responsible for almost ⅕ of
the US’ crude oil reserve.
