ES 10
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Oil and Natural Gas continued…
Past to Present (1 31 slides)
What are fossil fuels
Where doe the oil come from?
Oil Traps; Source, Reservoir & Cap Rocks
Why use Oil / Natural Gas
Drawbacks
Abiotic Oil?
How much is there and who has the oil? How long will it last?
Where does US get it’s oil?
Unconventional sources of oil and gas: Oil Shale, Tar Sands,
Methane Clathrates, aka Gas Hydrates
st
Why use Oil?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
It burns
Yields lots of energy
It’s relatively cheap
It flows
Easy to extract or pump it out
Easy to transport
Not much land disruption
It’s abundant
At end of 2011, world proven crude oil reserves stood at over
>1.4 trillion Barrels (~1,482 billion barrels)
1,481,526
• can be converted to useful materials
Refining Crude Oil
42 Gallons/Barrel
Heating / distilling separates crude oil into
components with different boiling points
A bi-product of oil & coal used as fuel, and
in smelting iron ore
Lightest components rise: petroleum gases,
gasoline. Then kerosene (used as jet fuel),
heating oil, and diesel fuel for trucks, buses,
trains, and ships. Heaviest fractions stay at
the bottom of the column: lubricating oils,
waxes and asphalt.
Petrochemicals are products of oil
distillation, over 4,000. Common
“end-products” are pesticides,
plastics, fibers, paints, synthetic
rubbers and medicines
Mostly methane, ethane, propane, butane
*Includes both home heating oil and diesel fuel
**Heavy oils used as fuels in industry, marine transportation, and for electric power
generation (Source: American Petroleum Institute)
Why use Natural Gas?
• Burns hotter than oil
• It’s cleaner than oil
• Easy to extract
• Easy to transport
• Yields lots of energy
• Global reserves up 140% since 1973
• Not much land disruption
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eCt0VDg-Kc
1
Disadvantages of using Oil & Natural Gas?
• Often degrades fresh air, soil and water
• Emits greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) and other
damaging gases (CO, NOx, SOx, H2S)
The semi-submersible rig Deepwater Horizon, drilled the Tiber well
in the Gulf of Mexico. Water depth = 4,132 ft or 1,259 meters.
Total depth of well ~35,055ft or ~10.7km or ~6.6 miles,
deepest well in history. Could yield 400,000 – 650,000 bpd
September, 2009
• Gases contributes to global climate change
http://www.cabrillo.edu/~rnolthenius/climate/index.html
• Causes acid deposition
• Can be explosive
• Not much time left at current rate of use
• Damaging leaks, spills and runoff are common
in the world’s oceans….
An explosion on 4/20/10 killed eleven crewmen. On 4/22/10
Deepwater Horizon sank, leaving its well gushing causing the
largest offshore oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
April 20th, 2010
The sea floor oil gusher was
stopped on July 15th after ~4.9
million barrels of crude oil
leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.
(Exxon Valdez spill 3/24/89:
260,000 – 750,000 barrels)
August 2010: underwater oil
plume discovered: 3,600 feet
down, over 20 miles long, over
1 mile wide and ~650 feet
thick
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/
coal-oil-gas/bp-oil-spill-statistics
2
San Francisco Bay Wednesday November 7th, 2007
~58,000 gallons of “oil” spilled from the 926-foot ship Cosco
Busan after tanker hits Bay Bridge; Coast Guard determines
cause was human error.
“Bunker Fuel” is a general name given to any type of fuel oil
used aboard ships.
Is petroleum formation likely to happen again soon?
Investigators found that pilot John Cota of the Costco Busan
abandoned his radar because he was high on pharmaceuticals.
On March 6, 2009, A plea agreement was negotiated with
prosecutors to charges of federal water pollution and
migratory bird killings.
He was sentenced in July 2009 to 10 months imprisonment
and fined between $3,000 and $30,000. He’s currently
trying to pilot again.
Pilots now earn $451,000 /yr & Cota’s pension is ~$228,864/yr
• No.
• No petroleum found in rocks younger than 1-2 million years so it’s
extremely likely it takes at least this long for petroleum to form.
• It’s estimated that <0.1% of all marine organic matter buried on the
sea floor is eventually trapped as usable petroleum.
• Some settings lack adequate heat to convert kerogen to petroleum
• Some settings lack sufficient depth or the necessary cap rock to
burry and trap fluids from escape.
• Conditions required to produce, concentrate, trap and retain
hydrocarbons are rarely observed together--> most marine
sedimentary rocks lack petroleum.
• Geologic processes can destroy oil traps. Uplift, erosion and faulting
can remove cap rocks or rupture traps allowing oil or gas to escape at
the surface. Majority of current oil reserves are in rocks < 160 my
old. 90 &150my common
• >90% of all petroleum formed escapes @ Earth’s surface.
ES 10
Abiotic Oil?
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Oil and Natural Gas continued…
Some challenge the accepted view of petroleum formation being
exclusively from biological material.
Past to Present (1 31 slides)
What are fossil fuels
Where doe the oil come from?
Oil Traps; Source, Reservoir & Cap Rocks
Why use Oil / Natural Gas
Drawbacks
Abiotic Oil?
How much is there and who has the oil? How long will it last?
Where does US get it’s oil?
Unconventional sources of oil and gas: Oil Shale, Tar Sands,
Methane Clathrates, aka Gas Hydrates
st
Extraterrestrial occurrences used to support hydrocarbons may
be inorganic:

Outer planets and moons contain methane.

Some stony meteorites (chondrites) contain hydrocarbons.
Carbonaceous chondrites (5% of all chondrites) are a type of stony
meteorites that contain Silicates, Oxides, Sulfides and traces of
various hydocarbons, including amino acids. Most chondrites
(86% of all meteorites) are rich in silicate minerals olivine and
pyroxenes. (Iron meteorites account for <6% of all meteorites but make up ~90% of
the mass of all known meteorites.)

Since hydrocarbons formed from inorganic reactions in the above
2 examples, some think hydrocarbons on earth may have formed
in a similar way.
3
Abiotic Oil?


Methane is present in volcanoes (1% - 15%). Abiotic oil from
the mantle that migrated upward, or volcanoes erupting through a
cover of sediments already containing some hydrocarbons?
Some laboratory experiments using a high-pressure and high
temperature apparatus have produced petroleum from solid iron
oxide (FeO), marble (CaCO3) and H2O –with no biotic compounds
or hydrocarbons originally present.
Could petroleum be produced abiotically? Yes, in
association with extraterrestrial and internal igneous
activity but it’s not commercial grade.
Could petroleum be produced from recycling various waste?
Yes….
• Thermal Conversion Process (TCP)
Changing of manure and/or animal & vegetable waste to crude
oil.
• Thermal Depolymerization (TDP)
Can change many carbon-based materials into crude oil and
methane, and is not limited to manure or vegetable waste. Web
Link: “Anything into Oil”, Discover Vol. 27 April 2006
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/anything-oil
• Pyrolysis
Decomposition of organic material at high temperatures without
oxygen. Web link: Clean Oceans International
http://cleanoceansinternational.org/
Carthage Missouri plant opens in Feb 2005.
270 tons turkey guts & 20 tons of pig fat can yield 500 barrels oil
worth ~$42,000/day. Other by-products: fertilizer and water.
Problems: initial high cost, odors and emission violations. US
consumes >22 million bpd
175lb human = 38lbs oil, 7lbs gas, 7lbs mineral & 123 lbs water
175
ES 10
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Past to Present (29 slides)
What are fossil fuels
Why use Oil / Natural Gas
Drawbacks
Where does oil come from?
Oil Traps; Source, Reservoir & Cap Rocks
Abiotic Oil?
How much is there, who has the oil & how long will it last?
Where does US get it’s oil?
Unconventional sources of oil and gas: Oil Shale, Tar Sands,
Methane Clathrates, aka Gas Hydrates
Top Producing Oil Countries as of 2014 BBL/Day
1 United States 13,973,000
2 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 11,624,000
3 Russia 10,853,000
4 China 4,572,000
5 Canada 4,383,000
6 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 3,471,000
7 Iran (OPEC) 3,375,000
8 Iraq (OPEC) 3,371,000
List includes conventional
9 Brazil 2,950,000
and unconventional sources
10 Mexico 2,812,000
11 Kuwait (OPEC) 2,780,000 1
2 Venezuela (OPEC) 2,689,000
13 Nigeria (OPEC) 2,427,000
14 Qatar (OPEC) 2,055,000
15 Norway 1,904,000
16 Angola (OPEC) 1,756,000
17 Algeria (OPEC) 1,721,000
18 Kazakhstan 1,719,000
19 Colombia 1,016,000
20 India 978,000 t
4
Where are global petroleum deposits located and
how much oil is there?
Percent World Crude Oil Reserves by Country
Africa
Europe
USA 3%
USA
Asia
OPEC
Countries
China
former USSR
67%
79%
Latin America
http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=production
OPEC Countries
Latin America
former USSR
China
Asia
Approximate US Energy breakdown
(notice 86% is from Fossil Fuels)
Organization of
Petroleum
Exporting
Countries:
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Iraq
Venezuela
Kuwait
UAE
Nigeria
Libya
Angola
Ecuador
Algeria
Qatar
USA
Europe
Africa
North American Energy Resources
ALASKA
Prudhoe Bay
Beaufort
Sea
Trans Alaska
oil pipeline
Arctic
Ocean
Coal
Gas
Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge
Oil
Prince
William Sound
Gulf of
Alaska
How long will current conventional oil reserves last?
• Known and projected global oil reserves expected to be 80%
depleted in 42 – 93 yrs. At the rate of consumption in 2008,
OPEC’s reserves will last ~85 yrs.
• Known recoverable US reserves is ~21 billion barrels and US
consumes ~22 million barrels/day.
High potential
areas
Valdez
US reserves with no oil imported:
21 billion barrels/22 million barrels/day = 2.6 years
US imports ~13.5 million barrels of oil/day (~61% of 22 mill).
21 billion barrels/the remaining 8.5 million US barrels use/day = 6.7 years
CANADA
Pacific
Ocean
UNITED
STATES
Grand
Banks
Atlantic
Ocean
•
Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling would add ~4 – 10 months
• Saudi Arabia alone could supply world for ~10 yrs.
• Global oil consumption is expected to increase >30% by 2020.
»
Source: G.Griggs, UCSC
MEXICO
How long will current conventional oil reserves last?
Peak Oil = the midpoint of depletion, when ½ the total has been
taken.
5
ES 10
Other sources of Oil / Unconventional
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Oil and Natural Gas continued…
Past to Present 31 slides)
What are fossil fuels
Where doe the oil come from?
Oil Traps; Source, Reservoir & Cap Rocks
Why use Oil / Natural Gas
Drawbacks
Abiotic Oil?
How much is there and who has the oil? How long will it last?
Where does US get it’s oil?
Unconventional sources of oil and gas: Oil Shale, Tar Sands,
Methane Clathrates, aka Gas Hydrates
(1st
Oil Shale and Oil Sand (aka “Heavy Oils”)
Oil still in Source
Oil Shale:
Sedimentary rock containing organic
kerogen (altered org matter in Sed Rk)
– never buried deep enough to raise
temperature required to convert
Kerogen to liquid oil
– Massive deposits underlie US
(estimate 2-5 trillion barrels)
Rock
Oil Sand/ aka Tar Sand:
mixture of sand, clay, water and
Bitumen (a viscous, heavy oil, too thick
to flow out of rock, the soluble portion
of Kerogen).
– Alberta Canada extensive deposits-few in US
Oil Shale Resources of North America
It’s estimated that the Green River Formation in Colorado,
Wyoming and Utah contain >400 billion barrels of oil.
Oil Shale Booming
“Monterey Shale” • Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking): a drilling process
designed to increase the yield of oil and/or gas out
of rock; method involves fracturing surrounding
rock (increasing permeability) and pumping fluids
into the fractures under extremely high pressures to
force the desired gas or liquids out.
• As of 2012, 2.5 million "frac jobs" had been performed
worldwide on oil and gas wells; over one million of
those within the U.S.
• Oklahoma Earthquakes: between 1978 and 2008 ~26/yr. In 2010 there were 1,047 earthquakes
6
Read this slide at home
Some Fracking Practices
http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic‐fracturing‐national
Steel casing, cement sleeve – protect aquifers
Horizontal drilling
Perforation
Water + sand + slickening agents + salt
electrical gunshots perforate steel casing & cement, then slickwater pressure + propping
agents fracture the shale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_additives_for_hydraulic_fracturing
https://fracfocus.org/chemical‐use/what‐chemicals‐are‐used
How Fracking Can Impact The Environment
• water consumption, diesel pumps, compressors, drills, etc.
• methane escape & flaring
• truck traffic, emissions, habitat impacts, pipelines
The number of people who have died in Texas car crashes involving commercial vehicles has increased
by more than 50 percent since the fracking boom started there in 2008. Fatal car accidents in Texas
rose from 301 incidents in 2009 to 454 incidents in 2013, according to Texas Dept of Transportation data.
• aquifer contamination, unaesthetic views
• wastewater disposal
– underground
– untreated in streams
– burden on sewage treatment plants
~93x54 Miles
40
Most of the bright lights are natural gas from wells being
burned because the region lacks the infrastructure to pipe all the gas away. Gas production has increased rapidly in recent years, ~ 30 percent is flared.
Web Link: Horizontal Wells and Fracking
http://www.northernoil.com/drilling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY34PQUiwOQ
41
(6.5min)
42
7
Making Fracking Greener?
• Run equipment with cleaner natural gas rather than diesel pumps, compressors, drills
• Replace water trucks & traffic with temporary water pipelines
• “Kitchen counter” frack fluids as safe as what’s under your kitchen sink
• Recycle fracking fluids – commonly done now
• Use gas as a fracking medium rather than water The Athabasca Tar
Sands of Alberta,
Canada
McMurray Formation
Fluvial and estuarine,
Early Cretaceous (146 -100my)
– CO2 or propane
‐ produces 30% more natural gas
How much Oil Shale and Tar Sand (aka oil sand)?
• Global supplies are estimated to be 200X larger than
conventional oil.
• More oil is trapped in Canadian tar sands than Saudi Arabia
has in all it’s reserves.
• It is estimated that tar sand in Alberta & Orinico Oil Belt in
Venezuela contain nearly 3.4 trillion barrels of oil.
At end of 2010, world proven conventional crude oil reserves
stood at >1.4 trillion Barrels
Why not use these resources?
• Oil shale and sand extraction requires surface mining
– ecosystem disruption; forests, wetlands, grasslands
– huge volumes of waste rock-- only ~3 barrels of shale oil
for 1 ton of rock processed
– 3 barrels of H2O/1 barrel of shale oil produced
– tailing ponds created: hold leftover water, sand, clay,
bitumen, salts, metals (Ni, V, Hg, As, Pb)
– pollution floats downstream
– land reclamation issues
– lower useful energy yield than conventional oil and gas
Web Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100831/full/news.2010.439.html
Web Link: Garth Lenz: The True Cost of Oil
– http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation.html
17.4 min
8