Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Petroleum: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Petroleum
Petroleum is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil. This substance, formed over billions of years from the anaerobic decay of organic materials from buried prehistoric organisms, particularly planktons and algae, has become the lifeblood of modern civilization. Approximately 70% of the world's oil deposits were formed during the Mesozoic, 20% were formed in the Cenozoic, and only 10% were formed in the Paleozoic. The word itself comes from Medieval Latin petra oleum, literally meaning rock oil, a term that originated in monasteries in southern Italy by the end of the first millennium as an alternative for the older term naphtha. It was later used in numerous manuscripts and books, such as in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by German mineralogist Georg Bauer. After the advent of the oil industry during the second half of the 19th century, the term became commonly known for the liquid form of hydrocarbons. The sheer scale of its impact is difficult to overstate, as it is estimated that the world consumes about 97.26 million barrels of oil each day, a figure that underscores its dominance in the global economy and daily life.
Ancient Fires And Early Wells
Petroleum in one form or another has been used since ancient times, with more than 4,300 years ago, bitumen was mentioned when the Sumerians used it to make boats. A tablet of the legend of the birth of Sargon of Akkad mentions a basket which was closed by straw and bitumen. More than 4,000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon, and there were oil pits near Ardericca and Babylon and a pitch spring on Zakynthos. 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 amongst the upper class. The use of petroleum in ancient China dates back more than 2,000 years, with the I Ching, one of the earliest Chinese writings, citing that oil in its raw state was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the 1st century BCE. By 347 CE, oil was produced from bamboo-drilled wells in China. In the 7th century, petroleum was among the essential ingredients for Greek fire, an incendiary projectile weapon that was used by Byzantine Greeks against Arab ships attacking Constantinople. Crude oil was distilled by Persian chemists, with clear descriptions given in Arabic handbooks such as those of Abu Bakr al-Razi. The streets of Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region. In the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku, Azerbaijan, described by Abu Bakr al-Razi in the 10th century and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who describes the output of those wells as hundreds of shiploads. Sophisticated oil pits, 30 feet deep, were dug by the Seneca people and other Iroquois in Western Pennsylvania as early as 1415, 1450. The French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm encountered Seneca using petroleum for ceremonial fires and as a healing lotion during a visit to Fort Duquesne in 1750. Early British explorers to Myanmar documented a flourishing oil extraction industry based in Yenangyaung that, in 1795, had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production. Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is said to be the first European site where petroleum has been explored and used, with the still active Erdpechquelle, a spring where petroleum appears mixed with water, having been used since 1498, notably for medical purposes.
Petroleum is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. This substance is formed over billions of years from the anaerobic decay of organic materials from buried prehistoric organisms, particularly planktons and algae.
When was petroleum first used by ancient civilizations?
Petroleum has been used since ancient times, with bitumen mentioned more than 4,300 years ago when the Sumerians used it to make boats. The use of petroleum in ancient China dates back more than 2,000 years, with the I Ching citing that oil was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the 1st century BCE.
Who drilled the first commercial oil well in the world?
Ignacy Łukasiewicz hand-dug the first intentional well for commercial oil extraction in Bóbrka, Poland, in 1853 to supply fuel for lighting. Romania was the first country in the world to have its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics, with 275 tonnes for 1857.
How much oil does the world consume each day?
The world consumes about 97.26 million barrels of oil each day, a figure that underscores its dominance in the global economy and daily life. Approximately 80 percent of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5 percent coming from the Arab five: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait.
What are the main components found in crude oil?
Crude oil consists of a variety of liquid, gaseous, and solid components, including lighter hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane and butane. The bulk of the liquid and solids are largely heavier organic compounds, often hydrocarbons, while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, and traces of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium.
When did the peak of oil discoveries occur?
The peak of oil discoveries was in 1965, and oil production per year has surpassed oil discoveries every year since 1980. In 2020, according to BP's Energy Outlook 2020, peak oil had been reached, due to the changing energy landscape coupled with the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the mid-19th century, oil wells developed quickly in various parts of the world, though the title of the first oil well depends on the criteria. In 1846, a group of Russian Imperial engineers directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii Corps of Mining Engineers accidentally struck oil while hand-drilling with a primitive percussion rig in Bibi-Heybat, near Baku, though they were not specifically searching for oil. In 1853, Ignacy Łukasiewicz, who discovered how to distill kerosene from seep crude oil and invented the modern kerosene lamp, hand-dug the first intentional well for commercial oil extraction in Bóbrka, Poland, to supply fuel for lighting. A hand-dug well and another refinery followed in 1857 near Ploiești, Romania. Romania was the first country in the world to have its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics, with 275 tonnes for 1857. In 1858, Georg Christian Konrad Hunäus found a significant amount of petroleum while drilling for lignite in Wietze, Germany, which later provided about 80% of German consumption in the Wilhelmine Era. The production stopped in 1963, but Wietze has hosted a petroleum museum since 1970. Chemist James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the coal mine at Riddings, Derbyshire, from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a more viscous oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848, Young set up a small business refining crude oil. Young eventually succeeded in creating a fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products. Young found that by slow distillation he could obtain several useful liquids from it, one of which he named paraffine oil because at low temperatures it congealed into a substance resembling paraffin wax. The production of these oils and solid paraffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated the 17th of October 1850. In 1850, Young & Meldrum and Edward William Binney entered into partnership under the title of E.W. Binney & Co. at Bathgate in West Lothian and E. Meldrum & Co. at Glasgow; their works at Bathgate were completed in 1851 and became the first truly commercial oil-works in the world with the first modern oil refinery. The first oil well in the Americas was drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake at what is now called the Drake Well in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania. There also was a company associated with it, and it sparked an oil boom and rapid expansion of the global petroleum industry. The same year, engine-drilled wells appeared in West Virginia. The first commercial oil well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario. Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground. Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene lamp oil. Williams's well became commercially viable a year before Drake's Pennsylvania operation and could be argued to be the first commercial oil well in North America. The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Advances in drilling continued into 1862 when local driller Shaw reached a depth of 62 metres using the spring-pole drilling method. On the 16th of January 1862, after an explosion of natural gas, Canada's first oil gusher came into production, shooting into the air at a recorded rate of 1,000 barrels per day. By the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan, had taken the lead in production.
The Century Of Conflict And Control
Access to oil was and still is a major factor in several military conflicts of the 20th century, including World War II, during which oil facilities were a major strategic asset and were extensively bombed. The German invasion of the Soviet Union included the goal to capture the Baku oilfields, as it would provide much-needed oil supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades. Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by mid-century. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, the United States was surpassed by Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union in total output. During the 1973 oil crisis, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations imposed an oil embargo against the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and other Western nations which supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This was followed by the 1979 oil crisis, which was caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and caused oil prices to more than double. The two oil price shocks had many short and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy. They led to sustained reductions in demand as a result of substitution to other fuels, especially coal and nuclear, and improvements in energy efficiency, facilitated by government policies. High oil prices also induced investment in oil production by non-OPEC countries, including Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the North Sea offshore fields of the United Kingdom and Norway, the Cantarell offshore field of Mexico, and oil sands in Canada. In 2018, due in part to developments in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the United States became the world's largest producer. About 80 percent of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5 percent coming from the Arab five: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait. A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Athabasca oil sands and extra heavy oil in the Orinoco Belt. While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future.
The Chemistry Of Modern Life
Petroleum consists of a variety of liquid, gaseous, and solid components. Lighter hydrocarbons are the gases methane, ethane, propane and butane. Otherwise the bulk of the liquid and solids are largely heavier organic compounds, often hydrocarbons. The proportion of light hydrocarbons in a petroleum mixture varies among oil fields. An oil well produces predominantly crude oil. 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 predominantly natural gas. However, because the underground temperature is higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane, hexane, and heptane, often shortened to condensate. Condensate resembles gasoline in appearance and is similar in composition to some volatile light crude oils. The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocarbons, while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, and traces of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium. Many oil reservoirs contain live bacteria. The molecular composition of crude oil varies widely from formation to formation, but the proportion of chemical elements varies over fairly narrow limits. Four different types of hydrocarbon appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies, determining the properties of each oil. The alkanes from pentane to octane are refined into gasoline, the ones from nonane to hexadecane into diesel fuel, kerosene and jet fuel. Alkanes with more than 16 carbon atoms can be refined 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 in modern refineries into more valuable products. The lightest fraction, the so-called petroleum gases, are subjected to diverse processing depending on cost. These gases are either flared off, sold as liquefied petroleum gas, or used to power the refinery's own burners. During the winter, butane is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates because its high vapour pressure assists with cold starts. The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons that have one or more benzene rings. They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic. These different components are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbon fractions. The components in an oil sample can be determined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Due to the large number of co-eluted hydrocarbons within oil, many cannot be resolved by traditional gas chromatography. This unresolved complex mixture of hydrocarbons is particularly apparent when analysing weathered oils and extracts from tissues of organisms exposed to oil. Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown, although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish. In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas and saline water. Crude oil may also be found in a 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, black, 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 less viscous than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy oil. 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 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen and extra heavy oil, about twice the volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil.
The Environmental Cost Of Combustion
Proximity to petroleum deposits, and subsequent access to and pricing of oil have historically fueled both domestic and geopolitical conflicts, state-sanctioned oil wars, diplomatic and trade frictions, energy policy disputes and other resource conflicts. Petroleum production has been linked with conflict for many years, leading to thousands of deaths. Petroleum deposits are in very few countries around the world. Conflicts may start when countries refuse to cut oil production in which other countries respond to such actions by increasing their production causing a trade war as experienced during the 2020 Russia, Saudi Arabia oil price war. Other conflicts start with countries wanting petroleum resources or other reasons on oil resource territory experienced in the Iran, Iraq War. Control of petroleum production has been a significant driver of international relations during much of the 20th and 21st centuries. Organizations like OPEC have played an outsized role in international politics. Some historians and commentators have called this the Age of Oil. With the rise of renewable energy and addressing climate change some commentators expect a realignment of international power away from petrostates. Oil rents have been described as connected with corruption in political literature. A 2011 study suggests that increases in oil rents increased corruption in countries with heavy government involvement in the production of oil. The study found that increases in oil rents significantly deteriorates political rights. The investigators say that oil exploitation gave politicians an incentive to extend civil liberties but reduce political rights in the presence of oil windfalls to evade redistribution and conflict. In 2018 road transport used 49% of petroleum, aviation 8%, and uses other than energy 17%. Electric vehicles are the main alternative for road transport and biojet for aviation. Single-use plastics have a high carbon footprint and may pollute the sea, but as of 2022 the best alternatives are unclear. The expected availability of petroleum resources has always been around 35 years or even less since the start of the modern exploration. The oil constant, an insider pun in the German industry, refers to that effect. A growing number of divestment campaigns from major funds pushed by newer generations who question the sustainability of petroleum may hinder the financing of future oil prospection and production. Peak oil is a term applied to the projection 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. Lack of knowledge and/or transparency in the accounting of global oil reserves makes it difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region. Based on available production data, proponents have previously predicted the peak for the world in 1989, 1995, or 1995, 2000. Some of these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s and the consequent lowering 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. In 2020, according to BP's Energy Outlook 2020, peak oil had been reached, due to the changing energy landscape coupled with the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been much focus historically on peak oil supply, the focus is increasingly shifting to peak demand as more countries seek to transition to renewable energy. The GeGaLo index of geopolitical gains and losses assesses how the geopolitical position of 156 countries may change if the world fully transitions to renewable energy resources. Former oil exporters are expected to lose power, while the positions of former oil importers and countries rich in renewable energy resources is expected to strengthen.
While production is estimated to reach peak oil before 2035, global economic focus on climate change mitigation in the transition to renewable energy sources and increased electrification will greatly reduce dependency on petroleum. The calculus for peak oil has changed with the introduction of unconventional production methods. In particular, the combination of horizontal drilling
The Geopolitics Of Black Gold
and hydraulic fracturing has resulted in a significant increase in production from previously uneconomic plays. Certain rock strata contain hydrocarbons but have low permeability and are not thick from a vertical perspective. Conventional vertical wells would be unable to economically retrieve these hydrocarbons. Horizontal drilling, extending horizontally through the strata, permits the well to access a much greater volume of the strata. Hydraulic fracturing creates greater permeability and increases hydrocarbon flow to the wellbore. On Saturn's largest moon, Titan, lakes of liquid hydrocarbons comprising methane, ethane, propane and other constituents occur naturally. Data collected by the space probe Cassini, Huygens yield an estimate that the visible lakes and seas of Titan contain about 300 times the volume of Earth's proven oil reserves. Drilled samples from the surface of Mars taken in 2015 by the Curiosity rover's Mars Science Laboratory have found organic molecules of benzene and propane in 3-billion-year-old rock samples in Gale Crater. The 1985, 2003 oil glut even fueled the sales of low fuel economy vehicles in OECD countries. The 2008 economic crisis seems to have had some impact on the sales of such vehicles; still, in 2008 oil consumption showed a small increase. In 2016 Goldman Sachs predicted lower demand for oil due to emerging economies concerns, especially China. The BRICS countries might also kick in, as China briefly had the largest automobile market in December 2009. In the long term, uncertainties linger; 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 oil sales, and both OPEC and the Energy Information Administration kept lowering their 2020 consumption estimates during the past five years. A detailed review of International Energy Agency oil projections have revealed that revisions of world oil production, price and investments have been motivated by a combination of demand and supply factors. All together, non-OPEC conventional projections have been fairly stable the last 15 years, while downward revisions were mainly allocated to OPEC. Upward revisions are primarily a result of US tight oil. 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 20th century, mainly because the industry was unable to probe them. Enhanced oil recovery techniques such as those used at the Daqing Oil Field will continue to play a major role in increasing the world's recoverable oil. The 1985, 2003 oil glut even fueled the sales of low fuel economy vehicles in OECD countries. The 2008 economic crisis seems to have had some impact on the sales of such vehicles; still, in 2008 oil consumption showed a small increase. In 2016 Goldman Sachs predicted lower demand for oil due to emerging economies concerns, especially China. The BRICS countries might also kick in, as China briefly had the largest automobile market in December 2009. In the long term, uncertainties linger; 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 oil sales, and both OPEC and the Energy Information Administration kept lowering their 2020 consumption estimates during the past five years. A detailed review of International Energy Agency oil projections have revealed that revisions of world oil production, price and investments have been motivated by a combination of demand and supply factors. All together, non-OPEC conventional projections have been fairly stable the last 15 years, while downward revisions were mainly allocated to OPEC. Upward revisions are primarily a result of US tight oil. 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
The Future Of A Finite Resource
investments and ever-increasing technological abilities. Subsalt reservoirs such as Tupi were unknown in the 20th century, mainly because the industry was unable to probe them. Enhanced oil recovery techniques such as those used at the Daqing Oil Field will continue to play a major role in increasing the world's recoverable oil.