Oil education

In general, oil is a liquid that is made up of
organic molecules. However, the world oil in
the context of the energy sector is the liquid
fossil fuel that is extracted from the ground.
Roughly 1/3 of the world's primary energy
comes from this primary fuel . Chemically, oil is
composed mainly out of carbon and hydrogen
with other trace elements. Since oil is made
mostly out of carbon and hydrogen atoms, it is
known as a hydrocarbon (although from a
chemical standpoint, it's often not a true
hydrocarbon). [2] The specific chemical makeup
of oil can vary drastically depending on where
it was drilled and in what conditions it was
formed under. [3]
Oil formed millions of years ago when living
organic matter died and was buried before it
could be decomposed in the presence of air .
This locked the carbon underground where heat
and pressure led to chemical and physical
changes. These changes, over long periods of
time, transformed the once- photosynthetic
energy from the Sun into the energy stored in
the oil itself. [4] Because oil is the main liquid
component of petroleum, it is referred to as a
petrochemical.
History
Figure 2. Edwin Drake, the driller of the first
productive oil well. [5]
Oil has been used extensively through history,
even when not being used to fuel vehicles or
generate electricity . Historically, oil was used
as a waterproofing agent and in some
medicines, but was found only in natural seeps
where the oil came above ground. [2] On
August 27, 1859 oil was pumped out of the
ground for the first time by Edwin Drake in
Pennsylvania and thousands of wells were
drilled following that. [6] Initially, most oil was
turned into kerosene and used as a lamp fuel,
but over time it grew to be used for fuelling
cars and generating electricity .
Extraction
Conventional oil is held beneath ground in traps
or reservoirs, held in the tiny pore spaces of
porous and permeable rock. Unconventional oil ,
primarily shale oil is held tightly in shale
deposits and thus more difficult to extract and
requires hydraulic fracturing to access.
Generally, to extract oil a well is dug into a
reservoir that holds oil. The well can be
vertical, directional, or horizontal depending on
how much access to the deposit is needed.
Directional and horizontal drilling allows more
of the well to be in the deposit itself,
increasing the flow of the oil. [7] After this, the
oil is extracted and refined. It can be distilled
or undergo hydrocarbon cracking to create
products and fuels that will be useful.
Use
Oil is used for many different things, and is
used extensively for transportation. Some ways
that oil can be used either before or after
refining are: [8]
Transportation Fuels
Fertilizer
Heating
Plastics
Solvents
Electrical Generation
Some of these uses require more refining of
crude oil to become useful, but they all utilize
oil in some way. According to the EIA,
transportation (through the use of gasoline and
diesel) accounts for 2/3 of the oil used in the
United States and is thus a major area of use
for oil. [8]
Oil is particularly useful as a fuel because of
its high energy density . As was mentioned
previously, the original energy source of oil is
the Sun, as the energy stored within dead
organic matter is what creates oil over time.
When burned in the presence of oxygen , oil
undergoes a hydrocarbon combustion reaction,
creating carbon dioxide and water vapour . The
energy released in this reaction has to do with
how much energy is stored within a certain
amount of oil. This amount is high, with the
energy content of 1 kilogram of oil being
Image . [9]
Environmental Impacts
Although oil is currently an extremely important
fuel, the production of carbon dioxide through
the combustion of oil and oil products is
leading to climate change . In addition to
carbon dioxide and other emissions produced
during the burning of oil products, the
production, transport, refining, and drilling
processes all have environmental problems
connected to them. Some chemicals produced
contribute to smog , while others are
greenhouse gases that contribute to the
warming of the Earth. [10] Some of the more
harmful pollutants include NOx and carbon
monoxide. As well as emissions being an
issue, the usage of land and destruction of
potentially ecologically significant areas for
drilling or through oil spills are causes for
concern.
Interactive Graph
Oil is used extensively worldwide, and the
graph below can be used to determine which
regions use the most or least oil products.
References
1. ↑ Pixabay. (June 5, 2015). Oil Pump
[Online]. Available: http://pixabay.com/
en/oil-pump-montana-usa-
landscape-51658/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stephen Marshak. (June 5,
2015). Earth: Portrait of a Planet , 3rd
ed. New York, NY, U.S.A:W.W. Norton &
Company, 2008
3. ↑ W.Leffler, M.Raymond. (May 25,
2015). Oil and Gas Production in
Nontechnical Language, 1st Ed. Tulsa,
OK, U.S.A: PennWell Corporation, 2006.
4. ↑ Richard Wolfson. (June 5, 2015).
Energy, Environment, and Climate, 2nd
ed. New York, NY, U.S.A: 2012.
5. ↑ Wikimedia Commons. (June 5, 2015).
Edwin Drake [Online]. Available: http://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Edwindrake.jpg#/media/
File:Edwindrake.jpg
6. ↑ Encyclopedia Brittanica. (June 5,
2015). Edqin Laurentine Drake [Online].
Available: http://www.britannica.com/
EBchecked/topic/170909/Edwin-
Laurentine-Drake
7. ↑ Geology.com. (June 5, 2015).
Horizontal Drilling & Directional Drilling\\
[Online]. Available: http://geology.com/
articles/horizontal-drilling/
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Eccos. (June 5, 2015). What
is Oil Used For? [Online]. Available:
http://www.eccos.us/what-is-oil-used-
for/
9. ↑ Washington University. (June 5,
2015). Energy Content of Fuels (in
Joules) [Online]. Available: http://
www.ocean.washington.edu/courses/
envir215/energynumbers.pdf
10. ↑ Michael McElroy. (June 5, 2015).
Energy: Perspectives, Problems, and
Prospects , 1st Ed. Oxford University
Press. New York, NY, USA: 2010.
Authors and Editors
Bethel Afework, Jordan Hanania, Kailyn
Stenhouse, Jason Donev
Last updated: February 24, 2019