HS Oil Studyguide Draft2

7/28/2019 HS Oil Studyguide Draft2

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Fossil Energy Study Guide: Oil

Pe t rol eum o r crud e oili s a ossil ue l that is oun d in large qua nt ities be ne ath th e Earth s sur ace andis oten used as a uel or raw material in the chemical industr y. It is a smelly, yellow-to-black liquid and is

usually ound in underground areas called reservoirs.

I you could look down an oil well and see oil where

Nature created it, you might be surprised. You wouldnt

see a big underground lake, as a lot o people think. Oil

doesnt exist in deep, black pools. In act, an underground

oil ormationan oil reservoirlooks very much like

any other rock ormation. Oil exists in this underground

ormation as tiny droplets trapped inside the open spaces,

called pores, inside rocks. Te pores and the oil droplets

can be seen only through a microscope. Te droplets cling

to the rock, like drops o water cling to a window pane.

WHERE IS OIL FOUND?

Oil reserves are ound all over the world. However, some

have produced more oil than others. Te top oil producing

countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran,

and China.

In the United States, petroleum is produced in 31 states.

Tose states that produce the most petroleum are exas,

Alaska, Caliornia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

Rock pores

When reservoir rock is magnifed, the tiny pores that contain trappedoil droplets can be seen.

While the United States is one o the top producing

countries, its need or petroleum surpasses the amount it

can produce; thereore, a majority o our oil (close to 60

percent) must be imported rom oreign countries. Te

country we import the most oil rom is Canada, ollowed

by Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria.

Top Producing Petroleum States


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DRILLING FOR OILPRIMARYRECOVERY

Once the oil producers are confdent they have ound theright kind o underground rock ormation, they can begin

drilling production wells.

When the well frst hits the reservoir, some o the oil may

come to the surace immediately due to the release o

pressure in the reservoir. Pressure rom millions o tons

o rock lying on the oil and rom the earths natural heat

build up in the reserve and expand any gases that may be

in the rock. When the well strikes the reserve, this pressure

is released, much like the air escaping rom a balloon. Tepressure orces the oil through the rock and up the well to

the surace. Years ago, when the equipment wasnt as good,

it was sometimes di cult to prevent the oil rom spurting

hundreds o eet out o the ground in a gusher. oday,

however, oil companies install special equipment on their

wells called blowout preventers that prevents the gushers

and helps to control the pressure inside the well.

When a new oil feld frst begins producing oil, the natural

pressures in the reservoir orce the oil through the rock

Other Distillates

(heating oil) 1.38

Heavy Fuel Oil(residual)

1.68

Liquefied

PetroleumGases (LPG)

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USES FOR PEROLEUM

You are probably already amiliar with the main use or

petroleum: gasoline. It is used to uel most cars in theUnited States. But petroleum is also used to make many

more products that we use on a daily basis.

A majority o petroleum is turned into an energy source.

Other than gasoline, petroleum can also be used to make

heating oil, diesel uel, jet uel, and propane. It can also be

turned into petrochemical eedstocka product derived

rom petroleum principally or the manuacturing o

chemicals, synthetic rubber, and plastics. It is also used

to make many common household products, including

crayons, dishwashing liquids, deodorant, eyeglasses, tires,

and ammonia.

DRILLING FOR OILEXPLORAION

Te frst step to drilling or oil is knowing where to drill.

Because it is an expensive endeavor, oil producers need to

know a lot about an oil reservoir beore they start drilling.

Tey need to know about the size and number o pores in

a reservoir rock, how ast oil droplets will move through

the pores, as well as where the natural ractures are in areservoir so that they know where to drill.

While in the past it may have taken a ew guesses and

some misses to fnd the right place to drill, scientists have

discovered new ways to determine the right locations or

oil wells. Using sound waves, scientists can determine the

characteristics o the rocks underground. Sound travels

at dierent speeds through dierent types o rocks. By

listening to sound waves using devices called geophones,

scientists can measure the speed at which the soundwaves move through the rock and determine where there

might be oil-bearing rocks. Scientists can also use electric

currents in place o the sound waves or the same eect.

Scientists can also examine the rock itsel. An exploratory

well will be drilled and rock samples called cores will be

brought to the surace. Te samples will be examined under a

microscope to see i oil droplets are trapped within the rock.

Products Made rom a Barrel o Crude Oil (gallons)

Note: A 42-U.S. gallon barrel o crude oil yields between 44 and 45gallons o petroleum products.

Source: Energy Inormation Administration


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pores, into ractures and up production wells. Tis natural

ow o oil is called primary production. It can go on

or days or years. But ater a while, an oil reservoir begins

to lose pressure. Te natural oil ow begins dropping oand oil companies must use pumps to bring the oil to the

surace.

It is not uncommon or natural gas to be ound along with

the petroleum. Oil companies can separate the gas rom

the oil and inject it back into the reservoir to increase the

pressure to keep the oil owing. But sometimes this is not

enough to keep the oil owing and a lot o oil will be let

behind in the ground. Secondary recovery is then used to

increase the amount o oil produced rom the well.

DRILLING FOR OILSECONDARYRECOVERY

Imagine spilling a can o oil on a concrete oor. You

would be able to wipe some o it up, but a thin flm o

oil might be let on the oor. You could take a hose and

spray the oor with water to wash away some o the

oil. Tis is basically what oil producers can do to an oil

reservoir during secondary recovery. Tey drill wells called

injection wells and use them like gigantic hoses to

pump water into an oil reservoir. Te water washes some

o the remaining oil out o the rock pores and pushes it

through the reservoir to production wells. Tis is called

waterfooding.

Lets assume that an oil reservoir had 10 barrels o oil in it

at the start (an actual reservoir can have millions o barrels

o oil). Tis is called original oil in place. O those original

10 barrels, primary production will produce about two and a

hal barrels. Waterooding will produce another one-hal toone barrel. Tat means that in our imaginary oil reservoir o

10 barrels, there will still be six and a hal to seven barrels o

oil let behind ater primary production and waterooding.

In other words, or every barrel o oil we produce, we will

leave around two barrels behind in the ground.

Tis is the situation acing todays oil companies. In the

history o the United States oil industry, more than 195

billion barrels o oil have been produced but more than 400

billion barrels have been let in the ground.

DRILLING FOR OILENHANCED OIL

RECOVERY

Petroleum scientists are working on ways to extract the

huge amounts o oil that are let behind ater primary and

secondary production. Trough enhanced oil recovery

(EOR) techniques, it may be possible to produce 30 to

60 percent o the reservoirs original oil in place. Current

research in EOR techniques includes:

Injection wells

Steam is injected into many oil felds where the oil is thicker andheavier than normal crude oil.


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Termal recovery, which involves the introduction

o heat such as the injection o steam to lower

the viscosity, or thin, the heavy viscous oil, and

improve its ability to ow through the reservoir.Termal techniques account or more than 50

percent o U.S. EOR production, primarily in

Caliornia.

Gas injection, which uses gases such as natural

gas, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide that expand in a

reservoir to push additional oil to a production

wellbore, or other

gases that dissolve

in the oil to lowerits viscosity and

improve its ow

rate. Gas injection

accounts or nearly

50 percent o EOR

production in the

United States.

Chemical

injection, which

can involve the

use o long-chained

molecules called

polymers to increase

the eectiveness o wateroods, or the use o

detergent-like suractants to help lower the surace

tension that oten prevents oil droplets rom

moving through a reservoir. Chemical techniques

account or less than 1 percent o U.S. EOR

production.Te EOR technique that is attracting the most interest is

carbon dioxide (CO2)-EOR. Injecting CO

2the same

gas that gives soda pop its fzzinto an oil reservoir

thins crude oil let behind, pressurizes it, and helps move

it to producing wells. When all remaining economically

recoverable oil is produced, the reservoir and adjacent

ormations can provide sites or storage o CO2

produced

rom the combustion o ossil uels in power plants and

other processes that generate large amounts o CO2. By

capturing the CO2 emissions rom these sources andthen pumping it into depleting oil reservoirs, we not only

increase the production rom the well but store the CO2

underground to prevent it rom being released to the

atmosphere, where it may aect the climate. Te potential

or CO2sequestration in depleted oil and gas reservoirs is

enormous. Te Department o Energy has documented

the location o more than 152 billion tons o sequestration

potential in the United

States and Canada rom

CO2-EOR. Currently,

about 48 million tons o

mostly naturally produce

CO2

are injected annually

or EOR operations in the

United States.

REFINING OIL

When crude oil is removed

rom the ground, it doesnot come out in a orm that is

readily useable. Beore it can

be used, it must be refned,

where it is cleaned and separated into parts to create the

various uels and chemicals made rom oil. Within the

oil are dierent hydrocarbons which have various boiling

points, meaning they can be separated through distillation.

o do this, the oil is piped through hot urnaces and based

on the hydrocarbons weight and boiling point, variousliquids and vapors will be created. Te lightest components

such as gasoline, will vaporize and rise to the top, where

they will condense and turn back into liquids. Te heavier

components will sink to the bottom. Tis will allow the

components to be separated rom each other and turned

into their respective product or uel.

Ater the refnery, the gasoline and other uels created

are ready to be distributed or use. A system o pipelines

Inside an Oil Refnery

An engineer stands inside an oil refnery surrounded by pipelinesand pumps.


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runs throughout the United States to transport oil and

uels rom one location to another. Tere are pipelines that

transport crude oil rom the oil well to the refnery. At the

refnery, there are additional pipelines that transport the

fnished product to various storage terminals where it can

then be loaded onto trucks or delivery, such as to a gasstation.

OFFSHORE DRILLING

Sometimes the oil is located deep underneath the ocean oor

and oshore drilling must be used to extract the crude oil.

A platorm is built to house the equipment needed to drill

the well; the type o platorm used will depend on a variety

o characteristics o the location, including the depth o the

water and how ar underwater the drilling target is located. Ablowout preventer is used just like on wells built on land. Tis

helps prevent petroleum rom leaking out o the well and into

the water.

Currently, there are more than 4,000 active platorms drilling

or oil in the Gul o Mexico. While a majority o them are

located in waters less than 200 meters (650 eet) in depth,

nearly 30 are located in areas where the water is more than

800 meters (2,400 eet) in depth.

HISORY OF PEROLEUM

Oshore platorm

Currently, there are more than 4,000 active platorms drilling oroil in the Gul o Mexico.

2000 B.C. The Chinese use crude oil to

light lamps and heat homes.

1750 Oil is found in Pennsylvania and

New York by well-owners who are

digging for salt brine. However,

its uses are little known at

this point.

Mid-

1800s

Expanding uses for oil extracted

from coal and shale begin to

increase the knowledge of the

value of crude oil and

exploration for it is encouraged.

1859 First oil well drilled near

Titusville, Pennsylvania,

by Edwin L. Drake.

1890s Mass production of automobiles

begins, creating a demand

for gasoline.

1920s With more than 9 million

automobiles on the roads in

the United States, gas stations

begin opening.

1950s Oil becomes our most used energy

source due to the demand

for gasoline.

1970s Production of petroleum in the

United States lower 48 states

reaches its highest level of

9.4 million barrels per day.

1990 for the first time, the United

States imports more oil and

refined products than it

produces domestically.


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SRAEGIC PEROLEUM RESERVE

Oil is a very important commodity to the United States. It

uels our cars and buses, as well as the machines at many

actories and refneries. With a majority o the oil we use

today being imported, what would happen i we werentable to get enough oil to keep up with the demand? An oil

embargo in the 1970s cut o the supply o oil imported to

the United States rom the Middle East leading to long

lines at the gas stations and even some uel shortages.

While the idea o creating a stockpile had come up beore,

the embargo helped cement the idea that an oil reserve was

in act needed.

In 1975, Congress passed the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, which made it policy o the UnitedStates to establish a reserve o up to 1 billion barrels o

crude oil. By 1977, oil was being delivered to the new

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Currently, there

are our SPR sites located in exas and Louisiana, which

have a total capacity to hold 727 million barrels o crude

oil (flled as o December 2009), making it the largest

emergency oil stockpile in the world.

SORING HE OIL

At the SPR sites, the crude oil is stored in underground

salt caverns.Salt caverns

are carved out o undergroundsalt domes by a process called solution mining.

Essentially, the process involves drilling a well into a

salt ormation then injecting massive amounts o resh

water. Te water dissolves the salt. In creating the SPR

caverns, the dissolved salt was removed as brine and either

reinjected into disposal wells or more commonly, piped

several miles oshore into the Gul o Mexico. By careully

controlling the reshwater injection process, salt caverns o

very precise dimensions can be created.

Besides being the lowest cost way to store oil or long

periods o time, the use o deep salt caverns is also one o

the most environmentally secure. At depths ranging rom

2,000 to 4,000 eet (610 1,220 meters), the salt walls o

the storage caverns are sel-healing. Te extreme geologic

pressures make the walls rock hard, and should any cracks

develop in the walls, they would be almost instantly closed

An added beneft o deep salt cavern storage is the natural

temperature dierence between the top o the caverns and the

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

A technician at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve inspects crude oiltranser pipes.

Oil Storage

Pipes at a refnery transport oil to its storage tanks.


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bottoma distance o around 2,000 eet. Te temperature

dierential keeps the crude oil continuously circulating in the

caverns, maintaining the oil at a consistent quality.

Te act that oil oats on water is the underlying mechanism

used to move oil in and out o the SPR caverns. o

withdraw crude oil, resh water is pumped into the bottom

o a cavern. Te water displaces the crude oil to the surace.

Ater the oil is removed rom the SPR caverns, pipelines

send it to various terminals and refneries around the nation.

FILLING HE SPR

Oil or the SPR can be purchased by the government rom

oil companies, as was done in the 1970s and the 1980s. Inthe late 1990s, the SPR also began using royalty-in-kind

oil, which is oil that is given to the government by petroleum

operators as payment on leases they hold on the ederally-

owned Outer Continental Shel in the Gul o Mexico.

Instead o paying or the leases with money, the companies

give the government oil, which is then put into the reserves.

USING HE SPR

In an emergency, when a limited nations oil supply leadsto an adverse impact on national saety or on the national

economy, the president may order oil to be withdrawn

rom the reserve. Te president can issue a ull drawdown

in which all the oil rom the reserve is released. A limited

drawdown may be issued in times where the event

threatening national energy supplies and the economy is

less severe or expected to be o short duration. A limited

drawdown has restrictions on the amount o oil that can be

released, as well as or how long.

Te president may also order a test sale, in which the

process o releasing the oil into the marketplace is tested to

ensure all personnel know the procedures or a drawdown

and all equipment is operational.

In the event o a drawdown, the Department o Energy

which manages the SPRwill oer a specifc number o

barrels o crude oil rom the reserve or sale. Te department

will select those companies to sell to and can begin delivering

the oil within 13 days. Oil can be pumped rom the reserve

at a maximum rate o 4.4 million barrels per day or up to 90

days beore the drawdown rate begins declining as the caverns

empty out. At 1 million barrels per day, the reserve can release

oil into the market continuously or nearly a year and a hal.

Tere have been two emergency drawdowns rom the

reserve. Te frst took place in 1991 during the Persian

Gul War. In order to maintain a stabilized petroleummarket during Operation Desert Storm, the government

oered 33 million barrels o oil rom the SPR or sale;

a little more than 17 million barrels were bought and

deliveries began within a month. Te second emergency

drawdown occurred in 2005 ater Hurricane Katrina

damaged oil refneries in the Gul Coast region.

Te Department o Energy is also authorized to exchange

oil rom SPR. Tese exchanges have been used in the past

to replace less suitable types o crude oil or higher-qualitycrude oil. It has also been used or limited, short-duration

actions to assist petroleum companies in resolving oil

delivery problems, such as the CIGO/Conoco Exchanges

in 2000, when a commercial dry dock collapsed, cutting o

shipping channels to the refneries.

Using the SPR

Te president can issue a drawdown (release o oil in the reserve)when events threaten national energy supplies.

Documents

HS Oil Studyguide Draft2