Introduction to oil
Importance and properties
What is oil?
• Fossil Fuels – forms of stored solar energy
– About 90% of energy worldwide
– Crude oil is organic-rich sediment, made mostly of
plant matter. It is generally found at least 500m
below the earth’s crust where increased
temperature and pressure transform the sediment
into oil and natural gas. (2)
• In 2000, oil and natural gas made up a little
over 60% of energy in the United States. (3)
What is oil?
• Petroleum, or crude oil, is a liquid composed
of hundreds of hydrocarbons from decaying
organic matter.
– Different gases, gasoline, heating oil, diesel are all
refined from crude oil and are separated based on
their boiling point. (3)
– This is done in a fractionation tower.
– After water, oil is, or was, the
Click image for video (4)
most abundant liquid in the
upper crust. However, 62% of
the oil can be found in only 1%
of the oil fields. (2)
The beginning of oil as an industry
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Oil and the economy
• Approximately 2/3 of oil
reserves are in the middle
east – EXPENSIVE!
• Estimates vary, but it looks
like oil may run out within
the next 70 years (2, 7).
– This may be reduced to as
few as 17 years if LEDC
develop and use oil at the
same per capita as the
United States (the leader in
oil use). (7)
8
Oil and the economy
• The Peak Production is the
maximum production rate
per time of an exhaustible
resource such as oil.
• This was defined by Dr. M.
King Hubbert in 1956. (9)
• We are still not sure exactly
when peak oil will hit, but
estimates are not
promising.
8
2010
• Thinking back to our systems unit:
currently, for oil… outputs are four
times great than inputs. (2)
– This is why it is not a renewable resource.
• Peak oil is somewhere within a 20-50
year period of now.(2)
• Even if we find more oil, should we
continue to assume that we can rely on
it forever?
• What other issues are caused by oil?
Oil Exploration
• We must drill for oil.
• In the seafloor, this means finding wells
beneath the ocean.
• Advances in technology make it easier to
locate wells, but at what cost?
– We have also discussed what disrupting the
seabed can do to ecosystems when talking about
offshore windfarms.
– What does this do to sea life?
Oil exploration
• Off shore exploration:
– Blowouts (like Deep Water Horizon) are rare.
– The average drill rig only impacts about 1km2 of
seabed.
– Though this may impact less than the average
fishing vessel, the risk of
spills with digging and
transport of oil is still
there. (10)
Oil exploration
• Off shore exploration:
– Blowouts (like Deep Water Horizon) are rare.
– The average drill rig only impacts about 1km2 of
seabed.
– Though this may impact less than the average
fishing vessel, the risk of
spills with digging and
transport of oil is still
there. (10)
(11)
(11)
– Different types of rigs may have different impacts.
Oil as a chemical
• Oil is non-polar.
• This means that it does not dissolve in water.
– It may temporarily mix with water if shaken (think
salad dressing).
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– This makes it difficult to
clean in the open ocean.
Wave action can diffuse
the oil, but not dissolve it.
Oil Discovery Lab
CHALLENGE!
• Clean up an oil spill
• We will be using vegetable oil instead of
motor oil (because it is less flammable and
this is a school).
• Use the provided supplies or ones you
brought get as much oil out of the water as
possible.
Sources cited
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
12.
Background image: Los Angeles Times. Gulf oil spill: Schwarzenegger no longer supports plan to expand
drilling off California's coast. May 3, 2010. Accessed on 11/26/2010 from
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-schwarzenegger-no-longer-supportsplan-to-expand-drilling-off-the-california-coast.html
Botkin, DB and EA Keller. Environmental Science: Earth as a living planet; sixth edition. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. 2007. ISBN: 978-0-470-04990-7. p 366-370.
Raven, PH and LR Berg. Environment: 5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006. ISBN: 0-471-70438-5. p 238.
Video Clip 1: Treasures of the deep, our ocean resources. 1996. Accessed through Discovery Education on
11/27/2010.
Video Clip 2: Dr. Dad’s PH3. Episode 07. 1995 .Accessed from Discovery Education on 11/27/2010.
Video Clip 3: The American Industrial Revolution. 1997. Accessed from Discovery Education on 11/27/2010.
Rutherford, J. Environmental Systems and Societies Course Companion. IB Diplomma Programme. Oxford
University Press. 2009. ISBN: 978-0199152278. p 200.
Image 2: 11.11 Clothing. 20 Simple Ways to Reduce Oil Consumption. Accessed on 11/27/2010.
http://1111now.com/wordpress/20-simple-ways-to-reduce-oil-consumption/.
Hubbert, MK. Nuclear Energy and Fossil Fuels. American Petroleum Institute. Shell Development Company.
June 1956.
Watling, L. The Global Destruction of Bottom Habitats by Mobile Fishing Gear. From Marine Conservation
Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity. Ed. EA Norse and LB Crowder. Marine
Conservation Biology Institute. Island Press. 2005. p 206-207.
Image 3: Armstrong, O. Oil Jet Pump. Accessed on 11/28/2010 from http://www.oiljetpump.com/offshoredrilling-rigs.htm
Video Clip 4: Treasures of the deep, our ocean resources. 1996. Accessed through Discovery Education on
11/27/2010.