Oil and Gas – Black Gold!

NASA

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 Talk outline
Part 1: Origin – How do oil and gas form?
Practical: Non-Renewable Energy

Part 2: Exploration and Production –

How do we find oil and gas and how is it produced?
Practical: Prospector Game

Part 3: Politics – Why are oil and gas important?

 Origin (1): Chemistry
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Petroleum.JPG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Octane_molecule_3D_model.png

Hydrocarbon
• Oil and gas are made of a mixture of
different hydrocarbons.
• As the name suggests these are large

Crude Oil molecules made up of hydrogen atoms

 Origin (2): Plankton
cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=93510

Plant plankton Animal plankton

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ceratium_hirundinella.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Copepod.

• Most oil and gas starts life as microscopic plants and animals
that live in the ocean.
 Origin (3): Blooms
serc.carleton.edu/images/microbelife/topics/red_tide_genera.v3.jpg

• Today, most plankton can be

found where deep ocean
currents rise to the surface

• This upwelling water is rich in

nutrients and causes the
plankton to bloom

• Blooms of certain plankton

called dinoflagellates may
© Miriam Godfrey give the water a red tinge
Dinoflagellate bloom
 Origin (4): On the sea bed
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Plankton.jpg

When the plankton dies it rains

down on sea bed to form an
organic mush
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nerr0328.jpg

If there are any animals on the

Sea bed sea bed these will feed on the
organic particles
 Origin (5): Black Shale
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Plankton.jpg
• However, if there is little or no
oxygen in the water then animals
can’t survive and the organic
mush accumulates

• Where sediment contains

more than 5% organic matter,
it eventually forms a rock
known as a Black Shale

© Earth Science World Image Bank

 Origin (6): Cooking
As Black Shale is buried, it is heated.

Organic matter is first changed by the

Kerogen increase in temperature into kerogen,
which is a solid form of hydrocarbon
Around 90°C, it is changed into a liquid
Oil state, which we call oil

Gas
Around 150°C, it is changed into a gas

www.oilandgasgeology.com/oil_gas_window.jpg A rock that has produced oil and gas in

this way is known as a Source Rock
 Origin (7): Migration
www.diveco.co.nz/img/gallery/2006/diver_bubbles.jpg
• Hot oil and gas is less dense than
the source rock in which it occurs

• Oil and gas migrate upwards up

through the rock in much the same
way that the air bubbles of an
underwater diver rise to the surface

Rising oil

• The rising oil and gas eventually gets

trapped in pockets in the rock called
reservoirs
 Origin (8): Ancient Earth
© Ron Blakey, Arizona Flagstaff

• During mid-Mesozoic times

around 150 million years ago,
conditions were just right
to build up huge thicknesses
of Black Shale source rocks

Ancient Earth

The world’s main oil deposits all formed in warm shallow seas
where plankton bloomed but bottom waters were deoxygenated
Origin (9): Source of North Sea Oil
© Ian and Tonya West

Black Shale

Ancient Earth

The Kimmeridge Clay is a Black Shale with up to 50% organic

matter. It is the main source rock for the North Sea Oil Field
 Practical Exercise 1
Renewable versus Non-Renewable Energy

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Windpark_Galicia.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_platform.jpg
 Exploration and Production (1):
Oil Traps
• Some rocks are permeable
Impermeable and allow oil and gas to freely
pass through them

• Other rocks are impermeable

and block the upward passage
of oil and gas

• Where oil and gas rises up

into a dome (or anticline)
capped by impermeable rocks
Dome Trap it can’t escape. This is one
Permeable type of an Oil Trap.
Exploration and Production (2):
Reservoir Rocks
• The permeable strata in an oil trap
is known as the Reservoir Rock

• Reservoir rocks have lots of

interconnected holes called pores.
These absorb the oil and gas like a
sponge

This is a highly magnified picture of

As oil migrates it fills up the pores
a sandy reservoir rock (water-filled
(oil-filled pores shown in black)
Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5innl pores are shown in blue)
 Exploration and Production (3):
Seismic Surveys
Drill here!

Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inor Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inpj

• Seismic surveys are used to locate likely rock structures

underground in which oil and gas might be found
• Shock waves are fired into the ground. These bounce off layers
of rock and reveal any structural domes that might contain oil
 Exploration and Production (4):
Drilling the well
• Once an oil prospect has been
identified, a hole is drilled into
the top of the trap

• The cost of drilling is very great.

On an offshore rig, it may cost
£1 million for each metre drilled.

• A company incurs vast losses

for every “dry hole” drilled
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_platform.jpg
Exploration and Production (5):
Enhanced Recovery
• Although oil and gas are less
dense than water and naturally
rise up a well to the surface,
in reality only 40-50% of the
total will do so.

• To enhance recovery, a hole

is drilled adjacent to the well
and steam is pumped down. The
hot water helps to push the oil out
of the rock and up into the well.
© California Department of Conservation
Exploration and Production (6):
Transport
Trans-Alaskan Pipeline • Once extracted oil and
gas must be sent to a
refinery for processing

• Pipelines transport
most of the world’s oil
from well to refinery

• Massive Oil Tankers

also play an important
role in distribution
United States Geological Survey
 Exploration and Production (7):
At the Refinery
Oil refinery Distillation
Plant
Car fuel
Jet fuel

Road tar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anacortes_Refinery_31911.JPG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crude_Oil_Distillation.png

• Before it can be used crude oil must be refined.

• Hydrocarbons can be separated using distillation, which
produces different fractions (or types) of oil and gas
 Exploration and Production (8):
Early History
• The modern era of oil
Abraham Gesner usage began in 1846 when
(1797-1864) Gesner perfected the art
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Abraham_Gesner.gif of paraffin distillation.

• This triggered a massive

worldwide boom in oil
production.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oilfields_California.jpg • California was centre of

Californian oil gusher activity in the early 1900s,
famous for its gushers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lucas_gusher.jpg
 Exploration and Production (9):
The Situation Today

USGS

Global oil and gas occurrences are now well understood (fields
shown in green). Only Antarctica and the Arctic remain unexplored.
Practical Exercise 2
The Oil Prospector Game
 Politics (1): Fuel source
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• 84% of crude oil is refined
into fuel, principally for cars
and planes

• Demand is ever increasing,

especially due to growth of
Chinese economy
blogs.sun.com/richb/resource/NBC_at_the_Pump.jpg
 Politics (2): Other uses
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CD-R.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Konservering.jpg

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lilit.jpg Food additives

CDs and DVDs

Plastic Fertilizers and

Pesticides
• The remaining 16% of crude oil is used for a range of purposes
shown above as well as synthetic fibres, dyes and detergents
Politics (3): Main Producers - OPEC
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Opec_Organization_of_the_Petroleum_Exporting_Countries_countries.PNG

• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a

group of 13 countries that produce 36% of the world’s oil, or
32 million barrels of oil per day.

• The biggest producer is Saudi Arabia, but Iran, United Arab

Emirates, Kuwait and Venezuela are also major suppliers
 Politics (4): Other Producers

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OECD-memberstates.png

• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD) produces 24% of all oil, or 21 million barrels per day.

• The USA is the biggest single producer in OECD but Mexico,

Canada and the UK are also major suppliers

• Outside OECD, the states of the former Soviet Union are also
major producers supplying a further 15% of global output
 Politics (5): Supply and Demand
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OilConsumptionpercapita.png

USA uses 24% of global

supply but China shows
the biggest year-to-year
increase in usage
Oil consumption per person
(darker reds indicate higher usage)
• In 2007, global consumption grew by 1.2 million barrels per day.

• OPEC and OECD nations can only raise production by a further

2.5 million barrels per day so a squeeze is on the cards
 Politics (6): Peak Oil
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert_peak_oil_plot.svg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert.jpg

Era of
energy
crisis

Hubbert (1903-1989)
• In 1956, Hubbert predicted that global oil production would peak
around the Year 2000 and trigger an Energy Crisis with power
blackouts and rising costs of energy and fuel
 Politics (7): Rising Oil Prices
$139 by June 2008

• Oil prices have been steadily rising for

several years and in June 2008 stand
at a record high of $139 per barrel.

• Is the rise due to a squeeze in availability

(peak oil) or are other political or
economic factors to blame?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Prices_Medium_Term.png
 Politics (8): Canada’s Tar Sands

NASA
i.treehugger.com/files/canada-tar-sands-01.jpg

• Higher oil prices and new technology mean unconventional

oil deposits are now economically viable (e.g. tar sands)

• The Athabasca Deposit in Alberta contains 1.75 trillion barrels,

or about half of the world’s proven oil reserves!
 Politics (9): Global Warming
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OIL

• Oil and Gas emit 15-30% less CO2 than coal per watt of energy
produced. Renewable energy is clean but not yet viable as fuel.
 Oil and Gas

NASA

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