Petroleum

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Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas
Ignacy Łukasiewicz - creator of the process of refining of kerosene from crude oil. Also believed to be a walrus impressionist.

Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found in formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons (mostly alkanes) of various lengths. The approximate length range is C5H12 to C18H38. Any shorter hydrocarbons are considered natural gas or natural gas liquids, while long-chain hydrocarbons are more viscous, and the longest chains are paraffin wax. In its naturally occurring form, it may contain other nonmetallic elements such as sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.[1] It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish) but varies greatly in appearance, depending on its composition. Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it may be referred to as crude bitumen.

Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and gasoline (petrol), both important "primary energy" sources. [2] 84% by volume of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-based fuels), including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas. [3]

Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, it has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics; the 16% not used for energy production is converted into these other materials.

Petroleum is found in porous rock formations in the upper strata of some areas of the Earth's crust. There is also petroleum in oil sands (tar sands). Known reserves of petroleum are typically estimated at around 140 km³ (1.2 trillion barrels) without oil sands [4], or 440 km³ (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands [5]. However, oil production from oil sands is currently severely limited. Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels per day, or 3.6 km³ per year. Because of reservoir engineering difficulties, recoverable oil reserves are significantly less than total oil-in-place. At current consumption levels, and assuming that oil will be consumed only from reservoirs, known reserves would be gone around 2039, potentially leading to a global energy crisis. However, this ignores any new discoveries, rapidly increasing consumption in China; India, and other developing nations, using oil sands, using synthetic petroleum, and other factors which may extend or reduce this estimate.

Formation

Chemistry

of potentially toxic byproducts. Too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Combustion in air (which contains mostly nitrogen) results in nitric oxides. For example:

Formation of petroleum occurs from kerogen pyrolysis, in a variety of mostly endothermic reactions at high temperature and/or pressure. [6]

Biogenic theory

Most geologists view crude oil and natural gas as the product of compression and heating of ancient organic materials over geological time. Oil is formed from the preserved remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae which have been settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions. Terrestrial plants, on the other hand, tend to form coal. Over geological time this organic matter, mixed with mud, is buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure cause the organic matter to chemically change during diagenesis, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis.

Geologists often refer to an "oil window" which is the temperature range that oil forms in—below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen, and above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking. Though this happens at different depths in different locations around the world, a 'typical' depth for the oil window might be 4–6 km. Note that even if oil is formed at extreme depths, it may be trapped at much shallower depths, even if it is not formed there (the Athabasca Oil Sands is one example).

Hydrocarbon trap.

Because most hydrocarbons are lighter than rock or water, these often migrate upward through adjacent rock layers until they either reach the surface or become trapped beneath impermeable rocks, within porous rocks called reservoirs. However, the process is not straightforward since it is influenced by underground water flows, and oil may migrate hundreds of kilometres horizontally or even short distances downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. Concentration of hydrocarbons in a trap forms an oil field, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping.

Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form: first, a source rock rich in organic material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil; second, a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; and last a cap rock (seal) or other mechanism that prevents it from escaping to the surface. Within these reservoirs fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it, although the different layers vary in size between reservoirs.

The vast majority of oil that has been produced by the earth has long ago escaped to the surface and been biodegraded by oil-eating bacteria. Oil companies are looking for the small fraction that has been trapped by this rare combination of circumstances. Oil sands are reservoirs of partially biodegraded oil still in the process of escaping, but contain so much migrating oil that, although most of it has escaped, vast amounts are still present - more than can be found in conventional oil reservoirs. On the other hand, oil shales are source rocks that have never been buried deep enough to convert their trapped kerogen into oil.

The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where kerogen is broken down to oil and natural gas by a set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The first set was originally patented in 1694 under British Crown Patent No. 330 covering,

"a way to extract and make great quantityes of pitch, tarr, and oyle out of a sort of stone."

The latter set is regularly used in petrochemical plants and oil refineries.

Abiogenic theory

Main article: Abiogenic petroleum origin

The idea of abiogenic petroleum origin was championed in the Western world by astronomer Thomas Gold based on thoughts from Russia, mainly on studies of Nikolai Kudryavtsev. The idea proposes that hydrocarbons of purely geological origin exist in the planet. Hydrocarbons are less dense than aqueous pore fluids, and are proposed to migrate upward through deep fracture networks. Thermophilic, rock-dwelling microbial life-forms are proposed to be in part responsible for the biomarkers found in petroleum.

This theory is a minority opinion, especially amongst Western geologists; no Western oil companies are currently known to explore for oil based on this theory, although Russia is known to have applied this theory with some success.[citation needed]

Classification

See also: Benchmark (crude oil)

The oil industry classifies "crude" by the location of its origin (e.g., "West Texas Intermediate, WTI" or "Brent") and often by its relative weight or viscosity ("light", "intermediate" or "heavy"); refiners may also refer to it as "sweet," which means it contains relatively little sulfur, or as "sour," which means it contains substantial amounts of sulfur and requires more refining in order to meet current product specifications. Each crude oil has unique molecular characteristics which are understood by the use of crude oil assay analysis in petroleum laboratories.

Barrels from an area in which the crude oil's molecular characteristics have been determined and the oil has been classified are used as pricing references throughout the world. These references are known as Crude oil benchmarks:

Petroleum industry

Main article: Petroleum industry

The main activities of the petroleum industry are

  • Exploration
  • Production
  • Processing (refining)
  • Marketing and distribution

Petroleum exploration

Main article: Oil exploration

Extraction

Main article: Extraction of petroleum

The most common method of obtaining petroleum is extracting it from oil wells found in oil fields. With improved technologies and higher demand for hydrocarbons various methods are applied in petroleum exploration and development to optimize the recovery of oil and gas. Primary recovery methods are used to extract oil that is brought to the surface by underground pressure, and can generally recover about 20% of the oil present. The natural pressure can come from several different sources; where it is provided by an underlying water layer it is called a water drive reservoir and where it is from the gas cap above it is called gas drive. After the reservoir pressure has depleted to the point that the oil is no longer brought to the surface, secondary recovery methods draw another 5 to 10% of the oil in the well to the surface. In a water drive oil field, water can be injected into the water layer below the oil, and in a gas drive field it can be injected into the gas cap above to repressurize the reservoir. Finally, when secondary oil recovery methods are no longer viable, tertiary recovery methods reduce the viscosity of the oil in order to bring more to the surface. These generally involve the injection of heat and/or solvents.

Alternative methods

During the oil price increases of 2004-2007, alternatives methods of producing oil gained importance. The most widely known alternatives involve extracting oil from sources such as oil shale or tar sands. These resources exist in large quantities; however, extracting the oil at low cost without excessively harming the environment remains a challenge.

It is also possible to chemically transform methane or coal into the various hydrocarbons found in oil. The best-known such method is the Fischer-Tropsch process. It was a concept pioneered in Nazi Germany when imports of petroleum were restricted due to war and Germany found a method to extract oil from coal. It was known as Ersatz (English:"substitute") oil, and accounted for nearly half the total oil used in WWII by Germany. However, the process was used only as a last resort as naturally occurring oil was much cheaper. As crude oil prices increase, the cost of coal to oil conversion becomes comparatively cheaper. The method involves converting high ash coal into synthetic oil in a multi-stage process. Ideally, a ton of coal produces nearly 200 liters (1.25 bbl, 52 US gallons) of crude, with by-products ranging from tar to rare chemicals.[citation needed]

Currently, two companies have commercialised their Fischer-Tropsch technology. Shell in Bintulu, Malaysia, uses natural gas as a feedstock, and produces primarily low-sulfur diesel fuels. [7] Sasol [8] in South Africa uses coal as a feedstock, and produces a variety of synthetic petroleum products.

The process is today used in South Africa to produce most of the country's diesel fuel from coal by the company Sasol. The process was used in South Africa to meet its energy needs during its isolation under Apartheid. This process produces low sulfur diesel fuel ; it also is an increased threat to environment, as it produces large amounts of greenhouse gases.

An alternative method of converting coal into petroleum is the Karrick process, which was pioneered in the 1930s in the United States. It uses high temperatures in the absence of ambient air, to distill the short-chain hydrocarbons of petroleum out of coal.

More recently explored is thermal depolymerization (TDP), a process for the reduction of complex organic materials into light crude oil. Using pressure and heat, long chain polymers of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon decompose into short-chain petroleum hydrocarbons. This mimics the natural geological processes thought to be involved in the production of fossil fuels. In theory, TDP can convert any organic waste into petroleum.

Processing

Main article: Oil refinery

History

Petroleum, in some form or other, is not a substance new in the world's history. More than four thousand years ago, according to Herodotus and confirmed by Diodorus Siculus, asphalt was employed in the construction of the walls and towers of [[Babylon Japan in the 7th century. [9]

The Middle East petroleum industry was established by the 8th century, when the streets of the newly constructed Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from easily accessible petroleum from natural fields in the region. In the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce naphtha. These fields were described by the geographer Masudi in the 10th century, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those wells as hundreds of shiploads. Petroleum was distilled by Persian chemist al-Razi in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as kerosene in the al-ambiq (alembic). [10] (See also: Alchemy (Islam), Islamic science, and Timeline of science and technology in the Islamic world.)

The earliest mention of American petroleum occurs in Sir Walter Raleigh's account of the Trinidad Pitch Lake in 1595; whilst thirty-seven years later, the account of a visit of a Franciscan, Joseph de la Roche d'Allion, to the oil springs of New York was published in Sagard's Histoire du Canada. A Russian traveller, Peter Kalm, in his work on America published in 1748 showed on a map the oil springs of Pennsylvania. [9]

In 1711 the Greek physician Eyrini d’Eyrinis discovered asphalt at Val-de-Travers, (Neuchâtel). He established a bitumen mine de la Presta there in 1719 that operated until 1986. [11][12]

Oil sands were mined from 1745 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, Alsace under the direction of Louis Pierre Ancillon de la Sablonnière, by special appointement of Louis XV.[13] The Pechelbronn oil field was active until 1970, and was the birth place of companies like Antar and Schlumberger. The first modern refinery was built there in 1857.[13]

The modern history of petroleum began in 1846 with the discovery of the process of refining kerosene from coal by Nova Scotian Abraham Pineo Gesner.

Ignacy Łukasiewicz improved Gesner's method to develop a means of refining kerosene from the more readily available "rock oil" ("petr-oleum") seeps in 1852 and the first rock oil mine was built in Bóbrka, near Krosno in Galicia in the following year. These discoveries rapidly spread around the world, and Meerzoeff built the first Russian refinery in the mature oil fields at Baku in 1861. At that time Baku produced about 90% of the world's oil.

Oil field in California, 1938.

The first commercial oil well drilled in North America was in Oil Springs, Ontario, Canada in 1858, dug by James Miller Williams. The US petroleum industry began with Edwin Drake's drilling of a 69-foot (21 m) oil well in 1859, on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania, for the Seneca Oil Company (originally yielding 25 barrels a day, by the end of the year output was at the rate of 15 barrels). The industry grew slowly in the 1800s, driven by the demand for kerosene and oil lamps. It became a major national concern in the early part of the 20th century; the introduction of the internal combustion engine provided a demand that has largely sustained the industry to this day. Early "local" finds like those in Pennsylvania and Ontario were quickly outpaced by demand, leading to "oil booms" in Texas, Oklahoma, and California.

Early production of crude petroleum in the United States: [9]

  • 1859: 2,000 {{{3}}} barrels (~270 ~Formatting error: invalid input when rounding t)
  • 1869: 4,215,000 {{{3}}} barrels (~5.750×10^5 ~{{scinote/SExpression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|({{{3}}}*22.4966605/164.9)|Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|4}} t)
  • 1879: 19,914,146 {{{3}}} barrels (~2.717×10^6 ~{{scinote/SExpression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|({{{3}}}*22.4966605/164.9)|Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|4}} t)
  • 1889: 35,163,513 {{{3}}} barrels (~4.797×10^6 ~{{scinote/SExpression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|({{{3}}}*22.4966605/164.9)|Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|4}} t)
  • 1899: 57,084,428 {{{3}}} barrels (~7.788×10^6 ~{{scinote/SExpression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|({{{3}}}*22.4966605/164.9)|Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".|4}} t)
  • 1906: 126,493,936 barrels (~21,600,000 t)

By 1910, significant oil fields had been discovered in Canada (specifically, in the province of Ontario), the Dutch East Indies (1885, in Sumatra), Iran (1908, in Masjed Soleiman), Peru, Venezuela, and Mexico, and were being developed at an industrial level.

Even until the mid-1950s, coal was still the world's foremost fuel, but oil quickly took over. Following the 1973 energy crisis and the 1979 energy crisis, there was significant media coverage of oil supply levels. This brought to light the concern that oil is a limited resource that will eventually run out, at least as an economically viable energy source. At the time, the most common and popular predictions were always quite dire, and when they did not come true, many dismissed all such discussion. The future of petroleum as a fuel remains somewhat controversial. USA Today news (2004) reports that there are 40 years of petroleum left in the ground. Some[citation needed] argue that because the total amount of petroleum is finite, the dire predictions of the 1970s have merely been postponed. Others [citation needed] claim that technology will continue to allow for the production of cheap hydrocarbons and that the earth has vast sources of unconventional petroleum reserves in the form of tar sands, bitumen fields and oil shale that will allow for petroleum use to continue in the future, with both the Canadian tar sands and United States shale oil deposits representing potential reserves matching existing liquid petroleum deposits worldwide.

Today, about 90% of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40% of total energy consumption in the United States, but is responsible for only 2% of electricity generation. Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities. Access to it was a major factor in several military conflicts including World War II and the Persian Gulf Wars of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The top three oil producing countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States. About 80% of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5% coming from the Arab 5: Saudi Arabia (12.5%), UAE, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. However, with today's oil prices, Venezuela has larger reserves than Saudi Arabia due to crude reserves derived from bitumen.

Uses

The chemical structure of petroleum is composed of hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. Because of this, petroleum may be taken to oil refineries and the hydrocarbon chemicals separated by distillation and treated by other chemical processes, to be used for a variety of purposes. See Petroleum products.

Fuels

Further information: alternative fuel

Generally used in transportation, power plants and heating.

Petroleum vehicles are internal combustion engine vehicles.

Other derivatives

Certain types of resultant hydrocarbons may be mixed with other non-hydrocarbons, to create other end products:

Consumption statistics

Global fossil carbon emissions, an indicator of consumption, for 1800-2000. Total is black. Oil is in blue.
  • 2004 U.S. government predictions for oil production other than in OPEC and the former Soviet Union
    2004 U.S. government predictions for oil production other than in OPEC and the former Soviet Union
  • World energy consumption, 1980-2030. Source: International Energy Outlook 2006.
    World energy consumption, 1980-2030. Source: International Energy Outlook 2006.

Environmental effects

Diesel fuel spill on a road

The presence of oil has significant social and environmental impacts, from accidents and routine activities such as seismic exploration, drilling, and generation of polluting wastes not produced by other alternative energies.

Extraction

Oil extraction is costly and sometimes environmentally damaging, although Dr. John Hunt of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution pointed out in a 1981 paper that over 70% of the reserves in the world are associated with visible macroseepages, and many oil fields are found due to natural leaks. Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine environment. [14] Extraction may involve dredging, which stirs up the seabed, killing the sea plants that marine creatures need to survive. But at the same time, offshore oil platforms also form micro-habitats for marine creatures.

Oil spills

Volunteers cleaning up the aftermath of the Prestige oil spill

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged natural ecosystems in Alaska, the Galapagos Islands, France and many other places and times in Spain (i.e. Ibiza).

The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz...). Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. This can kill sea birds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms it coats. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.

Unfortunately, techniques for control of oil slicks at sea are poorly developed, and in many cases the cleanup effort does more damage than the oil spill itself. A particularly bad problem is the use of detergents to clean up beaches since, while they make the beach look clean, they are generally toxic to sea life and can kill more living creatures than the oil. The dropping of bombs and incendiary devices from aircraft to eliminate oil spills from tankers is seldom used in peace time, although it was extremely effective in World War II, and was used successfully in the Torrey Canyon sinking in 1967.

Control of oil spills on land has been more effective. Companies have learned that it is simpler to let nature clean up the mess than using chemicals, so a modern technique is to introduce oil-eating bacteria into the oil-contaminated soil and let them clean up the problem. This can be assisted by what are known as land farming techniques to improve the bacterial efficiency by plowing and fertilizing. The use of fire and incendiary devices is also more common on land than at sea, and also has been effective where used.

Global warming

Main article: Global warming

Burning oil releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, which in theory contributes to global warming. Per energy unit, oil produces less CO2 than coal, but more than natural gas. However, the unique role of oil as a source of transportation fuel makes reducing its CO2 emissions a difficult problem. While large power plants can, in theory, eliminate their CO2 emissions by techniques such as carbon sequestering or even use them to increase oil production through enhanced oil recovery techniques, these amelioration strategies are not generally feasible for individual vehicles.

Whales

It has been argued that the advent of petroleum-refined kerosene saved the great cetaceans from extinction by providing a cheap substitute for whale oil, thus eliminating the economic imperative for whaling.[15]

Alternatives to petroleum

Main article: Renewable energy

Alternatives to petroleum-based vehicle fuels

Main articles: Alternative propulsion, Biofuel, Fuel economy, and Hydrogen economy

The term alternative propulsion or "alternative methods of propulsion" includes both:

Nowadays, cars can be classified between the next main groups:

Future of petroleum production

Hubbert peak theory

Main articles: Peak oil and Hubbert peak theory

The Hubbert peak theory (also known as peak oil) posits that future world petroleum production will eventually peak and then decline at a similar rate to the rate of increase before the peak as these reserves are exhausted. It also suggests a method to calculate the timing of this peak, based on past production rates, past discovery rates, and proven oil reserves.

Controversy surrounds the theory for numerous reasons. Past predictions regarding the timing of the global peak have failed, causing a number of observers to disregard the theory. Further, predictions regarding the timing of the peak are highly dependent on the past production and discovery data used in the calculation.

Proponents of peak oil theory also refer as an example, that when any given oil well produces oil in similar volumes to the amount of water used to obtain the oil, it tends to produce less oil afterwards, leading to the relatively quick exhaustion and/or commercial inviability of the well in question.

The theory is applied to both individual regions and the world as a whole. Hubbert's prediction for when US oil production would peak turned out to be correct, and after this occurred in 1971 - causing the US to lose its excess production capacity - OPEC was finally able to manipulate oil prices, which led to the 1973 oil crisis. Since then, most other countries have also peaked: the United Kingdom's North Sea, for example in the late 1990s. China has confirmed that two of its largest producing regions are in decline, and Mexico's national oil company, Pemex, has announced that Cantarell Field, one of the world's largest offshore fields, was expected to peak in 2006, and then decline 14% per annum.

It is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region, due to the lack of transparency in accounting of global oil reserves.[16] Based on available production data, proponents have previously predicted the peak for the world to be in years 1989, 1995, or 1995-2000. Some of these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s, and the consequent reduction in global consumption, the effect of which was to delay the date of any peak by several years. A new prediction by Goldman Sachs picks 2007 for oil and some time later for natural gas. [citation needed] 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.

Many proponents of the Hubbert peak theory argue that the production peak is imminent. The year 2005 saw a dramatic fall in announced new oil projects coming to production from 2008 onwards - in order to avoid the peak, these new projects would have to not only make up for the depletion of current fields, but increase total production annually to meet increasing demand.

The year 2005 also saw substantial increases in oil prices due to a number of circumstances, including war and political instability. Oil prices rose to new highs. Analysts such as Kenneth Deffeyes [17] argue that these price increases indicate a general lack of spare capacity, and the price fluctuations can be interpreted as a sign that peak oil is imminent.

Pricing

Main articles: Price of petroleum and Oil price increases of 2004-2007

Petroleum by country

Main article: Petroleum Industry
Oil consumption per capita (darker colors represent more consumption).

Consumption rates

There are two main ways to measure the oil consumption rates of countries: by population or by GDP (gross domestic product). This metric is important in the global debate over oil consumption/energy consumption/climate change because it takes social and economic considerations into account when scoring countries on their oil consumption/energy consumption/climate change goals. Nations such as China and India with large populations tend to promote the use of population based metrics, while nations with large economies such as the United States would tend to promote the GDP based metric.[citation needed]

Production

For oil reserves by country, see Oil reserves § Proven reserves in order.
Oil producing countries

In petroleum industry parlance, production refers to the quantity of crude extracted from reserves, not the literal creation of the product.

In order of amount produced in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Producing Nation (2006) (103bbl/d) (103m3/d)
1 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 10,719 1,704
2 Russia 1 9,668 1,537
3 United States 1 8,367 1,330
4 Iran (OPEC) 4,146 659
5 China 3,836 610
6 Mexico 1 3,706 589
7 Canada 2 3,289 523
8 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 2,938 467
9 Venezuela (OPEC) 1 2,803 446
10 Norway 1 2,785 443
11 Kuwait (OPEC) 2,674 425
12 Nigeria (OPEC) 2,443 388
13 Brazil 2,163 344
14 Algeria (OPEC) 2,122 337
15 Iraq (OPEC) 3 2,008 319

Source: US Energy Information Administration

1 peak production of conventional oil already passed in this state

2 Although Canadian conventional oil production is declining, total oil production is increasing as oil sands production grows. If oil sands are included, it has the world's second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.

3 Though still a member, Iraq has not been included in production figures since 1998

Export

Oil exports by country

In order of net exports in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Exporting Nation (2006) (103bbl/d) (103m3/d)
1 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 8,651 1,376
2 Russia 1 6,565 1,044
3 Norway 1 2,542 404
4 Iran (OPEC) 2,519 401
5 United Arab Emirates (OPEC) 2,515 400
6 Venezuela (OPEC) 1 2,203 350
7 Kuwait (OPEC) 2,150 342
8 Nigeria (OPEC) 2,146 341
9 Algeria (OPEC) 1 1,847 297
10 Mexico 1 1,676 266
11 Libya (OPEC) 1 1,525 242
12 Iraq (OPEC) 1,438 229
13 Angola (OPEC) 1,363 217
14 Kazakhstan 1,114 177
15 Canada 2 1,071 170

Source: US Energy Information Administration

1 peak production already passed in this state

2 Canadian statistics are complicated by the fact it is both an importer and exporter of crude oil, and refines large amounts of oil for the U.S. market. It is the leading source of U.S. imports of oil and products, averaging 2.5 MMbbl/d in August 2007. [2].

Total world production/consumption (as of 2005) is approximately 84 million barrels per day.

See also: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Consumption

In order of amount consumed in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Consuming Nation 2006 (103bbl/day) (103m3/day)
1 United States 1 20,588 3,273
2 China 7,274 1,157
3 Japan 2 5,222 830
4 Russia 1 3,103 493
5 Germany 2 2,630 418
6 India 2 2,534 403
7 Canada 2,218 353
8 Brazil 2,183 347
9 South Korea 2 2,157 343
10 Saudi Arabia (OPEC) 2,068 329
11 Mexico 1 2,030 323
12 France 2 1,972 314
13 United Kingdom 1 1,816 289
14 Italy 2 1,709 272
15 Iran (OPEC) 1,627 259

Source: US Energy Information Administration

1 peak production of oil already passed in this state

2 This country is not a major oil producer

Import

Oil imports by country

In order of net imports in 2006 in thousand bbl/d and thousand m³/d:

# Importing Nation (2006) (103bbl/day) (103m3/day)
1 United States 1 12,220 1,943
2 Japan 5,097 810
3 China 2 3,438 547
4 Germany 2,483 395
5 South Korea 2,150 342
6 France 1,893 301
7 India 1,687 268
8 Italy 1,558 248
9 Spain 1,555 247
10 Taiwan 942 150
11 Netherlands 936 149
12 Singapore 787 125
13 Thailand 606 96
14 Turkey 576 92
15 Belgium 546 87

Source: US Energy Information Administration

1 peak production of oil already passed in this state

2 Major oil producer whose production is still increasing

Non-producing consumers

# Consuming Nation (bbl/day) (m³/day)
1 Japan 5,578,000 886,831
2 Germany 2,677,000 425,609
3 India 2,320,000 368,851
4 South Korea 2,061,000 327,673
5 France 2,060,000 327,514
6 Italy 1,874,000 297,942
7 Spain 1,537,000 244,363
8 Netherlands 946,700 150,513

Source : CIA World Factbook

With the exception of South Korea, all the nations listed above have some crude oil production, ranging from 3,000 barrels per day for Spain to 689,000 barrels per day for India, but all such production is tiny compared to their consumption. Energy Information Administration

Writers covering the petroleum industry

See also

References

  1. ^ Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (MPMS), by the American Petroleum Institute
  2. ^ IEA Key World Energy Statistics
  3. ^ "Crude oil is made into different fuels"
  4. ^ EIA reserves estimates
  5. ^ CERA report on total world oil
  6. ^ Petroleum Study
  7. ^ Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis Malaysia
  8. ^ Sasol corporate website
  9. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference EB1911 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Dr. Kasem Ajram (1992). The Miracle of Islam Science (2nd Edition ed.). Knowledge House Publishers. ISBN 0-911119-43-4. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ Le bitume et la mine de la Presta (Suisse), Jacques Lapaire, Mineraux et Fossiles No 315
  13. ^ a b History of Pechelbronn oil
  14. ^ Waste discharges during the offshore oil and gas activity by Stanislave Patin
  15. ^ How Capitalism Saved the Whales by James S. Robbins, The Freeman, August, 1992.
  16. ^ New study raises doubts about Saudi oil reserves
  17. ^ Deffeyes, Kenneth (2005). Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert;s Peak (1st Edition ed.). Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-2957-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

External links

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