Petroleum (
L.
petroleum, from
Greek
πετρέλαιον, lit.
"rock oil") or
crude
oil is a naturally occurring,
flammable liquid consisting of a complex
mixture of
hydrocarbons of various
molecular weights, and other
organic
compounds, that is found in rock formations beneath the
earth's surface.
The term
"petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura
Fossilium, published in 1546 by the German
mineralogist
Georg Bauer, also known as Georgius
Agricola.
Composition
In its strictest sense, petroleum includes only crude oil, but in
common usage it includes both crude oil and
natural gas. Both crude oil and natural gas are
predominantly a mixture of
hydrocarbons. Under surface
pressure and
temperature conditions, the lighter hydrocarbons
methane,
ethane,
propane and
butane occur as
gases, while the heavier ones from
pentane
and up are in the form of liquids or solids. However, in the
underground
oil reservoir the
proportion which is gas or liquid varies depending on the
subsurface conditions, and on the
phase
diagram of the petroleum mixture.
An
oil well produces predominantly crude
oil, with some natural gas
dissolved in
it. Because the pressure is lower at the surface than underground,
some of the gas will come out of
solution
and be recovered as
associated gas or
solution gas. 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,
hexane, and
heptane in the
gaseous
state. Under surface conditions these will
condense out of the gas and form
natural gas condensate, often
shortened to
condensate. Condensate resembles
gasoline in appearance and is similar in
composition to some
volatile
light crude oils.
The proportion of hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture is highly
variable between different
oil fields and
ranges from as much as 97% by weight in the lighter oils to as
little as 50% in the heavier oils and
bitumens.
The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly
alkanes,
cycloalkanes and
various
aromatic hydrocarbons
while the other organic compounds contain
nitrogen,
oxygen and
sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as
iron,
nickel,
copper 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:
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 |
less than 1000 ppm |
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.
Most of the world's oils are
non-conventional.
Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its
composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be
yellowish 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. 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 of bitumen and extra-heavy
oil, about twice the volume of the world's reserves of conventional
oil.
Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing
fuel oil and
gasoline
(
petrol), both important
"primary energy" sources. 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. 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 . Known
reserves of petroleum are typically
estimated at around 190 km
3 (1.2
trillion barrels)
without oil sands, or 595 km
3 (3.74 trillion
barrels) with oil sands. Consumption is currently around per day,
or 4.9 km
3 per year. Because the
energy return over energy invested ratio of oil is
constantly falling (due to physical phenomena such as residual oil
saturation, and the economic factor of rising marginal extraction
costs), recoverable oil reserves are significantly less than total
oil in place. At current consumption levels, and assuming that oil
will be consumed only from reservoirs, known recoverable reserves
would be gone around 2039, potentially leading to a global
energy crisis. However, to date discoveries of
new oil reserves have more than matched increased usage.
In
addition, there are factors which may extend or reduce this
estimate, including the increasing demand for petroleum in
developing nations, particularly China
and India
; further new
discoveries; increased economic viability of recoveries from more
difficult to exploit sources; energy conservation and use of
alternative energy sources; and new economically viable
exploitation of unconventional oil sources.
Chemistry
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
(C
5H
12) to
octane
(C
8H
18) are
refined into
gasoline
(petrol), the ones from
nonane
(C
9H
20) to
hexadecane (C
16H
34) 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 (C
4H
10),
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 C
8H
18 and it reacts with oxygen
exothermically:
2\mathrm{C}_8 \mathrm{H}_{18(l)} + 25\mathrm{O}_{2(g)} \rightarrow
\; 16\mathrm{CO}_{2(g)} + 18\mathrm{H}_2 \mathrm{O}_{(l)} + 10.86 \
\mathrm{MJ}
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.
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.
Formation
According to generally accepted theory, petroleum is derived from
ancient
biomass. The theory was initially
based on the isolation of molecules from petroleum that closely
resemble known biomolecules (Figure).
350 px
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. 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"—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
A 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 in
the 1950s. It is currently supported primarily by Kenney and
Krayushkin.
The abiogenic origin hypothesis has scientific support from
publications such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 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. 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.
Crude oil
Crude oil reservoirs
.svg/140px-Structural_Trap_(Anticlinal).svg)
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
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.
Classification
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.
Barrel 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:
- West Texas
Intermediate (WTI), a very high-quality, sweet, light oil
delivered at Cushing,
Oklahoma
for North American oil
- Brent Blend,
comprising 15 oils from fields in the Brent and Ninian systems in the East Shetland Basin
of the North
Sea
. The oil is landed at Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetlands
. Oil production from Europe, Africa and
Middle Eastern oil flowing West tends to be priced off this oil,
which forms a benchmark
- Dubai-Oman, used
as benchmark for Middle East sour crude oil flowing to the Asia-Pacific
region
- Tapis (from Malaysia
, used as a reference for light Far East
oil)
- Minas
(from Indonesia
, used as a reference for heavy Far East
oil)
- The OPEC Reference Basket,
a weighted average of oil blends from various OPEC (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries) countries
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 the Shetlands,
it may be a Russian Export Blend delivered at the port of Primorsk
.
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 , though by 2007 this had dropped to 21% of
world oil consumed.
In the
US, in the states of Arizona
, California
, Hawaii
, Nevada
, Oregon
and Washington
, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is
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.
History
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 and the rise in
commercial aviation
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
. 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.
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. 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
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. 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. The current
reference, or pricing markers, are
Brent,
WTI, and
Dubai/Oman.
Uses
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
distillation
of petroleum are
fuels.Fuels include:
Other derivatives
Certain types of resultant hydrocarbons may be mixed with other
non-hydrocarbons, to create other end products:
Petroleum by country
Consumption statistics
Image:Global Carbon Emission by Type to Y2004.png|Global fossil
carbon emissions, an indicator of consumption, for 1800 - 2004.
Total is black, Oil is in blue.Image:EIA_IEO2006.jpg|World energy
consumption, 1980 - 2030.
Source: International Energy Outlook
2006.Image:Oil consumption per day by region from 1980 to
2006.svg|daily oil consumption from 1980 to 2006Image:Oil
consumption per day by region from 1980 to 2006 solid3.svg|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 2006 in
thousand
barrels (bbl) per day and in
thousand
cubic metres (m
3)
per day:
Source:
US Energy Information Administration
1
peak production of oil already passed in this
state
2 This country is not a major oil
producer
Production
Graph of Top Oil Producing Countries
1960-2006, including Soviet Union
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) |
| 1 |
Saudi Arabia (OPEC) |
10,665 |
10,234 |
| 2 |
Russia
1 |
9,677 |
9,876 |
| 3 |
United States 1 |
8,331 |
8,481 |
| 4 |
Iran
(OPEC) |
4,148 |
4,043 |
| 5 |
China |
3,845 |
3,901 |
| 6 |
Mexico
1 |
3,707 |
3,501 |
| 7 |
Canada
2 |
3,288 |
3,358 |
| 8 |
United Arab Emirates (OPEC) |
2,945 |
2,948 |
| 9 |
Venezuela (OPEC) 1 |
2,803 |
2,667 |
| 10 |
Kuwait
(OPEC) |
2,675 |
2,613 |
| 11 |
Norway
1 |
2,786 |
2,565 |
| 12 |
Nigeria (OPEC) |
2,443 |
2,352 |
| 13 |
Brazil |
2,166 |
2,279 |
| 14 |
Algeria (OPEC) |
2,122 |
2,173 |
| 15 |
Iraq (OPEC)
3 |
2,008 |
2,094 |
| 16 |
Libya
(OPEC) |
1,809 |
1,845 |
| 17 |
Angola
(OPEC) |
1,435 |
1,769 |
| 18 |
United Kingdom |
1,689 |
1,690 |
| 19 |
Kazakhstan |
1,388 |
1,445 |
| 20 |
Qatar
(OPEC) |
1,141 |
1,136 |
| 21 |
Indonesia |
1,102 |
1,044 |
| 22 |
India |
854 |
881 |
| 23 |
Azerbaijan |
648 |
850 |
| 24 |
Argentina |
802 |
791 |
| 25 |
Oman |
743 |
714 |
| 26 |
Malaysia |
729 |
703 |
| 27 |
Egypt |
667 |
664 |
| 28 |
Australia |
552 |
595 |
| 29 |
Colombia |
544 |
543 |
| 30 |
Ecuador (OPEC) |
536 |
512 |
| 31 |
Sudan |
380 |
466 |
| 32 |
Syria |
449 |
446 |
| 33 |
Equatorial Guinea |
386 |
400 |
| 34 |
Yemen |
377 |
361 |
| 35 |
Vietnam |
362 |
352 |
| 36 |
Thailand |
334 |
349 |
| 37 |
Denmark |
344 |
314 |
| 38 |
Congo |
247 |
250 |
| 39 |
Gabon |
237 |
244 |
| 40 |
South Africa |
204 |
199 |
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.[3752].
Total world production/consumption (as of 2005) is approximately
.
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
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 |
Source :
CIA World Factbook
Environmental effects
Diesel fuel spill on a road
The presence of oil has significant
social
and
environment impacts,
from accidents and routine activities such as
seismic exploration,
drilling, and generation of
polluting wastes,
greenhouse gases and
climate change not produced by
renewable energy.
Extraction
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 macroseepage, and many oil fields are found due to
natural seeps. Offshore exploration and
extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine
environment.
Oil spills
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 (picture).
The dropping of bombs
and incendiary devices from aircraft on the Torrey Canyon
wreck produced poor results; modern techniques
would include pumping the oil from the wreck, like in the Prestige oil spill or the Erika oil spill.
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.
Alternatives to petroleum
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. Outside of the US, a
higher proportion of petroleum tends to be used for
electricity.
Alternatives to petroleum-based vehicle fuels
Alternative propulsion refers to both:
Currently, cars can be classified into the following groups:
Alternatives to using oil in industry
Biological feedstocks do exist for industrial uses such as plastic
production.
Alternatives to burning petroleum for electricity
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
USA Today news reported in 2004
that there were 40 years of petroleum left in the ground. As
similar statements have been made in the 40 previous years, it
hardly carries the complex situation.
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
. The immediate outlook still hints upwards.
In the long term, uncertainties loiter ; 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 . 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 ) will continue to play a major
role in increasing the world's recoverable oil.
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.
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 . Also, these predictions do
not take into account outside elements such as the current economic
crisis (2008) . Also, many Peak Oil promoters proposed many
different dates, some of them passed already .
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.
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
References
- translated 1955
- IEA Key World Energy Statistics
- "Crude oil is made into different fuels"
- EIA reserves estimates
- CERA report on total world oil
- Heat of Combustion of Fuels
- Use of ozone depleting substances in laboratories. TemaNord
2003:516. http://www.norden.org/pub/ebook/2003-516.pdf
- Keith A. Kvenvolden “Organic geochemistry – A retrospective of
its first 70 years” Organic Geochemistry 37 (2006) 1–11.
- Petroleum Study
- http://oilismastery.blogspot.com/2008/05/oil-window.html
- Kenney et al., Dismissal of the Claims of a
Biological Connection for Natural Petroleum, Energia 2001
- http://www.pnas.org/content/99/17/10976.full
- Hydrocarbons in the deep Earth? July 2009 news
release.
- InfoPlease
- U.S. Energy Information Administration. Excel file
RecentPetroleumConsumptionBarrelsperDay.xls from web page
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_wco_k_w.htm (direct link:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/RecentPetroleumConsumptionBarrelsperDay.xls)
"Table Posted: November 7, 2008"
- From DSW-Datareport 2006 ("Deutsche Stiftung
Weltbevölkerung")
- One cubic metre of oil is equivalent to 6.28981077 barrels of
oil
- IndexMundi. South Korea Population - Demographics. "48,846,823"
... "July 2006 est." Retrieved 2008-11-11
- Sources vary: 24,600,000 from ; while IndexMundi listed a July
2006 estimate of 27,019,73:
- IndexMundi. France Population - Demographics. "60,876,136" ...
"July 2006 est." Retrieved 2008-11-11
- IndexMundi. United Kingdom Population - Demographics. "60,609,153"
... "July 2006 est." Retrieved 2008-11-11
- IndexMundi. Italy
Population - Demographics. "58,133,509" ... "July 2006 est."
Retrieved 2008-11-11
- IndexMundi. Iran
Population - Demographics. "68,688,433" ... "July 2006 est."
Retrieved 2008-11-11
- http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec11_10.pdf
- Waste discharges during the offshore oil and gas
activity by Stanislave Patin, tr. Elena Cascio
- Torrey Canyon bombing by the Navy and
RAF
- Pumping of the Erika cargo
- How Capitalism Saved the Whales by James S.
Robbins, The Freeman, August, 1992.
- "U.S. Primary Energy Consumption by Source and
Sector, 2007". Energy Information Administration
- needtitleUN Energy Program
- Amory B. Lovins, E. Kyle Datta, Odd-Even Bustnes, Jonathan G.
Koomey, Nathan J. Glasgow. "Winning the oil endgame" Rocky Mountain
Institute
- Bioprocessing Seattle Times
(2003)
- New
study raises doubts about Saudi oil reserves
External links
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