patroleum

$3 Million Lottery Win Donated to Church

2008-08-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

$3 Million Lottery Win Donated to Church

posted: 3 HOURS 50 MINUTES AGO

PORT JEFFERSON, N.Y. (Aug. 28) - A New York pastor says one of his congregants donated a winning lottery ticket worth $3 million to his church.

Pastor Bertrand Crabbe of the True North Community Church in Port Jefferson says the donor, who asked to remain anonymous, donated the "Ba Da Bling" scratch-off ticket immediately after realizing he won.

Crabb says the donor said "This was why God put the ticket in his hands."

A state Lottery official said Wednesday that the independent Christian church will get a little over $100,000 a year through 2028. The amount could be higher if withheld taxes are refunded because of the church's nonprofit status.

Crabb says the 650-member church will give the first year's proceeds to other charities.

Mass transit an afterthought?

2008-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

6 Home heating alternatives

2008-08-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

6 Home heating alternatives

Staying warm this winter could get expensive. While there's not much homeowners can do about energy prices, there are some ways to reduce your dependence on traditional fuels.

Convert to natural gas

The price for a gallon of heating oil is expected to skyrocket this winter and many homeowners, particularly those in the Northeast, are looking at natural gas as a cheaper alternative.

Heating oil prices are expected to increase an average of 31% nationwide this winter, according to the Department of Energy. That compares to a nearly 22% average increase in natural gas prices, which makes the fuel a relative bargain.

More than half of America's households already use natural gas for heating purposes. But the nation's 8 million consumers of heating oil, most of which live in the Northeast, could benefit by switching to natural gas.

Homeowners can expect to pay between $3,000 and $7,000 to convert from heating oil to natural gas, said David Graves of National Grid, a natural gas and electricity company. The cost varies according to the size of the home, the efficiency of the system and installation fees.

But converting to natural gas may not be an option for everyone.

Unlike heating oil, natural gas is provided by a local utility and is not considered a "deliverable" fuel. That means homeowners who aren't within range of a utility's network may be stuck with heating oil.

Still, converting to natural gas has its advantages for those with access to it. In addition to heating, it can be used to cook, run a clothes dryer, fuel a fireplace and heat water.

What's more, natural gas burns cleaner than heating oil, Graves said. That minimizes wear and tear on the boiler and lowers maintenance costs. It also makes natural gas more environmentally friendly.

However, natural gas prices have risen steadily over the last few years and could easily go even higher in the future.

"I wouldn't be counting on price decreases in the long term," notes Martin Kushler of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. "It's unlikely that we'll see a return to low market prices of the 90's."

Ground-source heat pump

Instead of burning fuels pumped out of the ground, like oil and gas, geothermal heat pumps mine the relatively constant temperatures just below the earth's surface.

The pumps, also called ground-source heat pumps, use a network of tubes to circulate fluid underground to retrieve warmth in the winter and disperse heat in the summer.

A geothermal system costs between $5,000 and $10,000 to install, according to Jim Bose, executive director of the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association. That's substantially more than a conventional heating system.

While the upfront cost is significant, it can be recovered in energy savings after as little as five years, according to the Department of Energy. After that, the pumps can provide 25 years of heating and cooling service with relatively low maintenance costs.

Indeed, a geothermal system has the potential to reduce energy bills by as much as 35%, Bose said. And those savings are attracting the attention of many homeowners faced with the possibility of a 20% increase in heating bills this winter.

The federal government's $300 tax credit for qualified geothermal heat pumps expired last year. Lawmakers have yet to decide whether or not renew or expand the tax credit.

Passive solar

The advantages of using the sun's energy to heat your home are clear: Solar energy is economical, renewable and environmentally friendly.

Passive solar heating -- designing a home to maximize its ability to collect and retain heat from the sun -- can greatly reduce home heating bills.

Of course, the effectiveness of passive solar heating depends heavily on the local climate, and it is not capable of replacing a conventional heating system altogether.

In most cases, passive solar heating is something to consider when designing a new home and may not be the best option for homeowners looking to save on heating bills in the short term.

Still, the long-term economic and environmental benefits of solar energy are significant.

Site orientation, the positioning of a house to maximize its exposure to sunlight, is the most basic component of passive solar heating.

Large, south-facing windows, plus floor and wall materials specially made to absorb and hold heat, are the other fundamental parts of passive solar design.

During the day, the windows allow sunlight to warm the floors and walls which naturally release that heat when the temperature begins to fall.

Active solar

Active solar heating systems use the same basic principles as passive solar heating but incorporate mechanical means to get the most out of the sun's energy.

These systems use liquid or air to absorb solar radiation in a device called a collector. The stored heat can then be distributed through a building's existing heat system.

The cost of an active solar heating system is determined by the size of the house, the existing heating system and local climate. But a system using 4-6 collectors to provide heat for a 2,000 square foot house can cost between $15,000 and $20,000, according to Apricus Solar, a global solar thermal systems company.

In terms of efficiency, the right active solar heating system can provide 40% to 80% of a home's heating needs, according to the Department of Energy.

During the winter, however, active solar heating systems are not capable of entirely replacing a conventional heating system.

But active solar heating systems can also cut down on other utility costs by heating water during the summer.

Wood burning stoves

Over the years, wood burning stoves have become safer and more efficient. And as heating oil and natural gas prices have increased, they have become more economical for many consumers.

One gallon of heating oil has a heat content of about 138,690 British thermal units, according to the DOE. The price for a gallon of heating oil is expected to jump to $4.34 nationwide this winter, which would give it a price per million Btu of $31.29.

A cord of wood, by contrast, costs roughly $200 and has an approximate heat content of 22 million Btu. That gives it a price per million Btu of only $9.

Homeowners can expect to pay at least $750 for a wood burning appliance and installation fees start at $250, according to consumerreports.org.

In contrast to old fashioned masonry fireplaces, which often suck heat out of a room, modern woodstoves generate more heat by burning gases and particulates before they can fly up the chimney.

Certain models are designed to fit inside an existing fireplace, which reduces installation costs.

But wood burning stoves are not for everyone. The cost of transporting firewood, given high gas prices, can make it more expensive for urban dwellers, notes Martin Kushler of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Despite improved efficiency, wood burning stoves still contribute to air pollution. And while wood is a renewable resource it is not as sustainable as solar or geothermal heat.

Pellet burning stoves

Pellet burning stoves have emerged as a cleaner and more efficient alternative to wood burners.

They burn pellets of compacted sawdust, wood chips, nutshells, corn kernels and other biomass waste. These fuels are generally easier to handle and have higher combustion efficiencies than wood.

The Environmental Protection Agency considers pellet burners among the "cleanest-burning heating appliances available today" and exempts them from smoke-emission testing requirements.

They typically cost between $1,700 and $3,000 and are often cheaper to install than wood burning stoves since many are "direct-vented" and do not require a chimney.

Pellet fuel is usually sold in 40 pound bags and a household that relies exclusively on a pellet stove for heat normally goes through two to three tons a year. On average, pellet fuel costs between $120 and $200 a ton, according to the DOE.

But pellet burning appliances, unlike wood burning stoves, have fans and controls that consume electricity.

Why oil won't fall below $100

2008-08-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Why oil won't fall below $100

With a surge in the price of global commodities, it's costing more to produce a barrel of oil than ever before.

Urban oil drilling

Natural gas

2008-07-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Natural gas

Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but including significant quantities of ethane, propane, butane, and pentane—heavier hydrocarbons removed prior to use as a consumer fuel —as well as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide.^[1] It is found in oil fields (associated) either dissolved or isolated in natural gas fields (non associated), and in coal beds (as coalbed methane). When methane-rich gases are produced by the anaerobic decay of non-fossil organic material, these are referred to as biogas. Sources of biogas include swamps, marshes, and landfills (see landfill gas), as well as sewage sludge and manure by way of anaerobic digesters, in addition to enteric fermentation particularly in cattle.

Since natural gas is not a pure product, when non associated gas is extracted from a field under supercritical (pressure/temperature) conditions, it may partially condense upon isothermic depressurizing--an effect called retrograde condensation. The liquids thus formed may get trapped by depositing in the pores of the gas reservoir. One method to deal with this problem is to reinject dried gas free of condensate to maintain the underground pressure and to allow reevaporation and extraction of condensates.

Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane. The by-products of that processing include ethane, propane, butanes, pentanes and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, elemental sulfur, and sometimes helium and nitrogen.

1 Chemical composition
2 Energy content, statistics and pricing
3 Natural gas processing
4 Storage and transport
5 Use
- 5.1 Power generation
- 5.2 Hydrogen
- 5.3 Natural Gas Vehicles
- 5.4 Residential domestic use
- 5.5 Fertilizer
- 5.6 Aviation
- 5.7 Other
6 Sources
- 6.1 Natural gas
- 6.2 Town gas
- 6.3 Biogas
- 6.4 Hydrates
7 Safety
8 Cost comparison with heating oil in the USA
9 See also
10 External links
- 10.1 Natural gas vehicles
11 References

Chemical composition

The primary component of natural gas is methane (CH₄), the shortest and lightest hydrocarbon molecule. It often also contains heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as ethane (C₂H₆), propane (C₃H₈) and butane (C₄H₁₀), as well as other sulfur containing gases, in varying amounts, see also natural gas condensate. Natural gas that contains hydrocarbons other than methane is called wet natural gas. Natural gas consisting only of methane is called dry natural gas.

Component	Typical wt. %
Methane (CH₄)	70-90
Ethane (C₂H₆)	5-15
Propane (C₃H₈) and Butane (C₄H₁₀)	<>
CO₂, N₂, H₂S, etc.	balance

Nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide, water and odorants can also be present ^[2]. Natural gas also contains and is the primary market source of helium. Mercury is also present in small amounts in natural gas extracted from some fields^[3]. The exact composition of natural gas varies between gas fields.

Organosulfur compounds and hydrogen sulfide are common contaminants which must be removed prior to most uses. Gas with a significant amount of sulfur impurities, such as hydrogen sulfide, is termed sour gas; gas with sulfur or carbon dioxide impurities is acid gas. Processed natural gas that is available to end-users is tasteless and odorless, however, before gas is distributed to end-users, it is odorized by adding small amounts of odorants (mixtures of t-butyl mercaptan, isopropyl mercaptanthiol, tetrahydrothiophene, dimethyl sulfide and other sulfur compounds), to assist in leak detection. Processed natural gas is, in itself, harmless to the human body, however, natural gas is a simple asphyxiant and can kill if it displaces air to the point where the oxygen content will not support life.

Natural gas can also be hazardous to life and property through an explosion. Natural gas is lighter than air, and so tends to escape into the atmosphere. But when natural gas is confined, such as within a house, gas concentrations can reach explosive mixtures and, if ignited, result in blasts that could destroy buildings. Methane has a lower explosive limit of 5% in air, and an upper explosive limit of 15%. Explosive concerns with compressed natural gas used in vehicles are almost non-existent, due to the escaping nature of the gas, and the need to maintain concentrations between 5% and 15% to trigger explosions.

Energy content, statistics and pricing

Main article: Natural gas prices

Quantities of natural gas are measured in normal cubic meters (corresponding to 0°C at 101.325 kPaA) or in standard cubic feet (corresponding to 60 °F (16 °C) and 14.73 PSIA). The gross heat of combustion of one normal cubic meter of commercial quality natural gas is around 39 megajoules (≈10.8 kWh), but this can vary by several percent. In US units, one standard cubic foot of natural gas produces around 1,030 British Thermal Units (BTUs). The actual heating value when the water formed does not condense is the net heat of combustion and can be as much as 10% less.^[4]

The price of natural gas varies greatly depending on location and type of consumer. In 2007, a price of $7 per 1,000 cubic feet (28 m³) was typical in the United States. The typical caloric value of natural gas is roughly 1,000 BTU per cubic foot, depending on gas composition. This corresponds to around $7 per million BTU's, or around $7 per gigajoule. In April 2008, the wholesale price was $10 per 1,000 cubic feet (28 m³) ($10/MBTU) ^[5]. The residential price varies from 50% to 300% more than the wholesale price. At the end of 2007, this was $12-$16 per 1,000 cu ft (28 m³)^[6]. Natural gas in the United States is traded as a futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Each contract is for 10,000 MMBTU (gigajoules), or 10 billion BTU's. Thus, if the price of gas is $10 per million BTU's on the NYMEX, the contract is worth $100,000.

In the United States, retail sales are often in units of therms (th); 1 therm = 100,000 BTU. Gas meters measure the volume of gas used, and this is converted to therms by multiplying the volume by the energy content of the gas used during that period, which varies slightly over time. Wholesale transactions are generally done in decatherms (Dth), or in thousand decatherms (MDth), or in million decatherms (MMDth). A million decatherms is roughly a billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Natural gas is also traded as a commodity in Europe, principally at the United Kingdom NBP and related European hubs, such as the TTF in the Netherlands.

In the rest of the world, LNG (liquified natural gas) and LPG (liquified petroleum gas) is traded in metric tons or mmBTU as spot deliveries. Long term contracts are signed in metric tons. The LNG and LPG is transported by specialized transport ships, as the gas is liquified at cryogenic temperatures. The specification of each LNG/LPG cargo will usually contain the energy content, but this information is in general not available to the public.

Natural gas processing

A natural gas processing plant

Main article: Natural gas processing

The image below is a schematic block flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant. It shows the various unit processes used to convert raw natural gas into sales gas pipelined to the end user markets.

The block flow diagram also shows how processing of the raw natural gas yields byproduct sulfur, byproduct ethane, and natural gas liquids (NGL) propane, butanes and natural gasoline (denoted as pentanes +).^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant

Storage and transport

Polyethylene gas main being laid in a trench.

The major difficulty in the use of natural gas is transportation and storage because of its low density. Natural gas pipelines are economical, but are impractical across oceans. Many existing pipelines in North America are close to reaching their capacity, prompting some politicians representing colder areas to speak publicly of potential shortages.

LNG carriers can be used to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) across oceans, while tank trucks can carry liquefied or compressed natural gas (CNG) over shorter distances. They may transport natural gas directly to end-users, or to distribution points such as pipelines for further transport. These may have a higher cost, requiring additional facilities for liquefaction or compression at the production point, and then gasification or decompression at end-use facilities or into a pipeline.

Peoples Gas Manlove Field Natural gas storage area in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Illinois. In the foreground is one of numerous wells for the underground storage area, with an LNG plant and above ground storage tanks in the background.

In the past, the natural gas which was recovered in the course of recovering petroleum could not be profitably sold, and was simply burned at the oil field (known as flaring). This wasteful practice is now illegal in many countries. Additionally, companies now recognize that value for the gas may be achieved with LNG, CNG, or other transportation methods to end-users in the future. The gas is now re-injected back into the formation for later recovery. This also assists oil pumping by keeping underground pressures higher. In Saudi Arabia, in the late 1970s, a "Master Gas System" was created, ending the need for flaring. Satellite observation unfortunately shows that some large gas-producing countries still use flaring^[12] and venting^[13] routinely. The natural gas is used to generate electricity and heat for desalination. Similarly, some landfills that also discharge methane gases have been set up to capture the methane and generate electricity.

Natural gas is often stored in underground caverns formed inside depleted gas reservoirs from previous gas wells, salt domes, or in tanks as liquefied natural gas. The gas is injected during periods of low demand and extracted during periods of higher demand. Storage near the ultimate end-users helps to best meet volatile demands, but this may not always be practicable.

With 15 nations accounting for 84% of the world-wide production, access to natural gas has become a significant factor in international economics and politics. In this respect, control over the pipelines is a major strategic factor.^[14]

Power generation

Natural gas is a major source of electricity generation through the use of gas turbines and steam turbines. Particularly high efficiencies can be achieved through combining gas turbines with a steam turbine in combined cycle mode. Natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, and produces less carbon dioxide per unit energy released. For an equivalent amount of heat, burning natural gas produces about 30% less carbon dioxide than burning petroleum and about 45% less than burning coal.^[15] Combined cycle power generation using natural gas is thus the cleanest source of power available using fossil fuels, and this technology is widely used wherever gas can be obtained at a reasonable cost. Fuel cell technology may eventually provide cleaner options for converting natural gas into electricity, but as yet it is not price-competitive.

Hydrogen

Natural gas can be used to produce hydrogen, with one common method being the hydrogen reformer. Hydrogen has various applications: it is a primary feedstock for the chemical industry, a hydrogenating agent, an important commodity for oil refineries, and a fuel source in hydrogen vehicles.

Natural Gas Vehicles

A Metrobus using natural gas

Compressed natural gas (methane) is a cleaner alternative to other automobile fuels such as gasoline (petrol) and diesel. As of 2005, the countries with the largest number of natural gas vehicles were Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, Italy, Iran, and the USA. ^[16] The energy efficiency is generally equal to that of gasoline engines, but lower compared with modern diesel engines. Benzene (aka gasoline, petrol) vehicles converted to run on Natural Gas suffer because of the low compression ratio of their engines, resulting in a cropping of delivered power while running on natural gas (10%-15%). CNG-specific engines, however, use a higher compression ratio due to this fuel's higher octane number of 120-130.

Residential domestic use

Natural gas is supplied to homes, where it is used for such purposes as cooking in natural gas-powered ranges and/or ovens, natural gas-heated clothes dryers, heating/cooling and central heating. Home or other building heating may include boilers, furnaces, and water heaters. CNG is used in rural homes without connections to piped-in public utility services, or with portable grills. However, due to CNG being less economical than LPG, LPG (Propane) is the dominant source of rural gas.

Fertilizer

Natural gas is a major feedstock for the production of ammonia, via the Haber process, for use in fertilizer production.

Aviation

Russian aircraft manufacturer Tupolev is currently running a development program to produce LNG- and hydrogen-powered aircraft.^[17] The program has been running since the mid-1970s, and seeks to develop LNG and hydrogen variants of the Tu-204 and Tu-334 passenger aircraft, and also the Tu-330 cargo aircraft. It claims that at current market prices, an LNG-powered aircraft would cost 5,000 roubles less to operate per ton, roughly equivalent to 60%, with considerable reductions to carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions.

The advantages of liquid methane as a jet engine fuel are that it has more specific energy than the standard kerosene mixes and that its low temperature can help cool the air which the engine compresses for greater volumetric efficiency, in effect replacing an intercooler. Alternatively, it can be used to lower the temperature of the exhaust.

Other

Natural gas is also used in the manufacture of fabrics, glass, steel, plastics, paint, and other products.

Sources

Natural gas production by country (countries in brown and then red have the largest production)

Natural gas

Natural gas is commercially produced from oil fields and natural gas fields. Gas produced from oil wells is called casinghead gas or associated gas. The natural gas industry is producing gas from increasingly more challenging resource types: sour gas, tight gas, shale gas and coalbed methane.

The world's largest gas field by far is Qatar's offshore North Field, estimated to have 25 trillion cubic metres^[18] (9.0×10¹⁰ cu ft) of gas in place—enough to last more than 200 years at optimum production levels. The second largest natural gas field is the South Pars Gas Field in Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Connected to Qatar's North Field, it has estimated reserves of 8 to 14 trillion cubic metres^[19] (2.8×10¹⁰ to 5.0×10¹⁰ cu ft) of gas.

See also: List of natural gas fields

Town gas

Town gas is a mixture of methane and other gases, mainly the highly toxic carbon monoxide, that can be used in a similar way to natural gas and can be produced by treating coal chemically. This is a historic technology, still used as 'best solution' in some local circumstances, although coal gasification is not usually economic at current gas prices. However, depending upon infrastructure considerations, it remains a future possibility.

Biogas

Methanogenic archaea are responsible for all biological sources of methane, some in symbiotic relationships with other life forms, including termites, ruminants, and cultivated crops. Methane released directly into the atmosphere would be considered a pollutant, however, methane in the atmosphere is oxidised, producing carbon dioxide and water. Methane in the atmosphere has a half life of seven years, meaning that every seven years, half of the methane present is converted to carbon dioxide and water.

U.S. Natural Gas Production 1900 - 2005 Source: EIA

Future sources of methane, the principal component of natural gas, include landfill gas, biogas and methane hydrate. Biogas, and especially landfill gas, are already used in some areas, but their use could be greatly expanded. Landfill gas is a type of biogas, but biogas usually refers to gas produced from organic material that has not been mixed with other waste.

Landfill gas is created from the decomposition of waste in landfills. If the gas is not removed, the pressure may get so high that it works its way to the surface, causing damage to the landfill structure, unpleasant odor, vegetation die-off and an explosion hazard. The gas can be vented to the atmosphere, flared or burned to produce electricity or heat. Experimental systems were being proposed for use in parts Hertfordshire, UK and Lyon in France.

Once water vapor is removed, about half of landfill gas is methane. Almost all of the rest is carbon dioxide, but there are also small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. There are usually trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide and siloxanes, but their concentration varies widely. Landfill gas cannot be distributed through natural gas pipelines unless it is cleaned up to the same quality. It is usually more economical to combust the gas on site or within a short distance of the landfill using a dedicated pipeline. Water vapor is often removed, even if combusting the gas on site. If low temperatures condense out the water from the gas, siloxanes can be lowered as well because they tend to condense out with the water vapour. Other non-methane components may also be removed in order to meet emission standards, to prevent fouling of the equipment or for environmental considerations. Co-firing landfill gas with natural gas improves combustion, which lowers emissions.

Biogas is usually produced using agricultural waste materials, such as otherwise unusable parts of plants and manure. Biogas can also be produced by separating organic materials from waste that otherwise goes to landfills. This is more efficient than just capturing the landfill gas it produces. Using materials that would otherwise generate no income, or even cost money to get rid of, improves the profitability and energy balance of biogas production.

Anaerobic lagoons produce biogas from manure, while biogas reactors can be used for manure or plant parts. Like landfill gas, biogas is mostly methane and carbon dioxide, with small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. However, with the exception of pesticides, there are usually lower levels of contaminants.

Hydrates

A speculative source of enormous quantities of methane is from methane hydrate, found under sediments in the oceans. However, as of 2008 no technology has been developed to recover it economically.

Safety

In any form, a minute amount of odorant such as t-butyl mercaptan, with a rotting-cabbage-like smell, is added to the otherwise colorless and almost odorless gas, so that leaks can be detected before a fire or explosion occurs. Sometimes a related compound, thiophane is used, with a rotten-egg smell. Adding odorant to natural gas began in the United States after the 1937 New London School explosion. The buildup of gas in the school went unnoticed, killing three hundred students and faculty when it ignited. Odorants are considered non-toxic in the extremely low concentrations occurring in natural gas delivered to the end user.

In mines, where methane seeping from rock formations has no odor, sensors are used, and mining apparatuses have been specifically developed to avoid ignition sources, e.g., the Davy lamp.

Explosions caused by natural gas leaks occur a few times each year. Individual homes, small businesses and boats are most frequently affected when an internal leak builds up gas inside the structure. Frequently, the blast will be enough to significantly damage a building but leave it standing. In these cases, the people inside tend to have minor to moderate injuries. Occasionally, the gas can collect in high enough quantities to cause a deadly explosion, disintegrating one or more buildings in the process. The gas usually dissipates readily outdoors, but can sometimes collect in dangerous quantities if weather conditions are right. However, considering the tens of millions of structures that use the fuel, the individual risk of using natural gas is very low.

Some gas fields yield sour gas containing hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). This untreated gas is toxic. Amine gas treating, an industrial scale process which removes acidic gaseous components, is often used to remove hydrogen sulfide from natural gas. ^[20]

Extraction of natural gas (or oil) leads to decrease in pressure in the reservoir. This in turn may lead to subsidence at ground level. Subsidence may affect ecosystems, waterways, sewer and water supply systems, foundations, etc.

Natural Gas heating systems are the leading cause of carbon monoxide deaths in the United States, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. When a natural gas heating system malfunctions, it produces odorless carbon monoxide. With no fumes or smoke to give warning, poisoning victims are easily asphyxiated by the carbon monoxide. Detectors are available that warn of carbon monoxide and/or explosive gas (methane, propane, etc.)

Cost comparison with heating oil in the USA

It is difficult to evaluate the cost of heating a home with natural gas compared to that of heating oil, because of differences of energy conversion efficiency, and the widely fluctuating price of crude oil. However, for illustration, one can calculate a representative cost per BTU. Assuming the following current values:

For natural gas
- One cubic foot of natural gas produces about 1,030 BTU (38.4 MJ/m³)
- The price of natural gas is $9.00 per thousand cubic feet ($0.32/m³)

For heating oil
- One US gallon of heating oil produces about 138,500 BTU (38.6 MJ/l)
- The price of heating oil is $2.50 per US gallon ($0.66/l)

This gives a cost of $8.70 per million BTU ($8.30/GJ) for natural gas, as compared to $18 per million BTU ($17/GJ) for fuel oil. Of course, such comparisons fluctuate with time and vary from place to place dependent on the cost of the raw materials and local taxation.

Petroleum

2008-07-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Petroleum

For other uses, see Petroleum (disambiguation).

"Petro" redirects here. For other uses, see Petro (disambiguation).

Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas

Petroleum (L. petroleum <>πετρέλαιον lit. "rock oil" was first used in the treatise De re metallica published in 1556 by the German mineralogist Georg Bauer, known as Georgius Agricola.^[1]) is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.

1 Composition
2 Chemistry
3 Formation
- 3.1 Biogenic theory
- 3.2 Abiogenic theory
4 Classification
5 Petroleum industry
6 Petroleum exploration
- 6.1 Extraction
- 6.2 Alternative methods
7 History
8 Uses
- 8.1 Fuels
- 8.2 Other derivatives
- 8.3 Consumption statistics
9 Environmental effects
- 9.1 Extraction
- 9.2 Oil spills
- 9.3 Global warming
- 9.4 Whales
10 Alternatives to petroleum
- 10.1 Alternatives to petroleum-based vehicle fuels
11 Future of petroleum production
- 11.1 Hubbert peak theory
12 Petroleum by country
- 12.1 Consumption rates
- 12.2 Production
- 12.3 Export
- 12.4 Consumption
- 12.5 Import
- 12.6 Non-producing consumers
13 Writers covering the petroleum industry
14 See also
15 References
16 External links

Composition

The proportion of hydrocarbons in the mixture is highly variable and ranges from as much as 97% by weight in the lighter oils to as little as 50% in the heavier oils and bitumens.

The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocarbons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium. The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation to formation but the proportion of chemical elements vary over fairly narrow limits as follows:^[2]

Carbon	83-87%
Hydrogen	10-14%
Nitrogen	0.1-2%
Oxygen	0.1-1.5%
Sulfur	0.5-6%
Metals	<1000>

Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish). In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a gas cap over the petroleum, and saline water, which being heavier generally floats underneath it. 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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 190 km³ (1.2 trillion (short scale) barrels) without oil sands,^[5] or 595 km³ (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands.^[6] Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels (13.4×10⁶ m³) per day, or 4.9 km³ per year. Because the energy return over energy invested (EROEI) ratio of oil is constantly falling as petroleum recovery gets more difficult, 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 recoverable reserves would be gone around 2039, potentially leading to a global energy crisis. However, there are factors which may extend or reduce this estimate, including the rapidly increasing demand for petroleum in China, India, and other developing nations; new discoveries; energy conservation and use of alternative energy sources; and new economically viable exploitation of non-conventional oil sources.

Chemistry

Octane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum, lines are single bonds, black spheres are carbon, white spheres are hydrogen

Petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons; the most commonly found molecules are alkanes (linear or branched), cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or more complicated chemicals like asphaltenes. Each petroleum variety has a unique mix of molecules, which define its physical and chemical properties, like color and viscosity.

The alkanes, also known as paraffins, are saturated hydrocarbons with straight or branched chains which contain only carbon and hydrogen and have the general formula C_nH_2n+2 They generally have from 5 to 40 carbon atoms per molecule, although trace amounts of shorter or longer molecules may be present in the mixture.

The alkanes from pentane (C₅H₁₂) to octane (C₈H₁₈) are refined into gasoline (petrol), the ones from nonane (C₉H₂₀) to hexadecane (C₁₆H₃₄) into diesel fuel and kerosene (primary component of many types of jet fuel), and the ones from hexadecane upwards 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 by modern refineries into more valuable products. Any shorter hydrocarbons are considered natural gas or natural gas liquids.

The cycloalkanes, also known as napthenes, are saturated hydrocarbons which have one or more carbon rings to which hydrogen atoms are attached according to the formula C_nH_2n. Cycloalkanes have similar properties to alkanes but have higher boiling points.

The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons which have one or more planar six-carbon rings called benzene rings, to which hydrogen atoms are attached with the formula C_nH_n. They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic.

These different molecules are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbons. For example 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (isooctane), widely used in gasoline, has a chemical formula of C₈H₁₈ and it reacts with oxygen exothermically:^[7]

The amount of various molecules in an oil sample can be determined in laboratory. The molecules are typically extracted in a solvent, then separated in a gas chromatograph, and finally determined with a suitable detector, such as a flame ionization detector or a mass spectrometer^[8].

Incomplete combustion of petroleum or gasoline results in production of toxic byproducts. Too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Due to the high temperatures and high pressures involved, exhaust gases from gasoline combustion in car engines usually include nitrogen oxides which are responsible for creation of photochemical smog.

Formation

Formation of petroleum occurs from kerogen pyrolysis, in a variety of mostly endothermic reactions at high temperature and/or pressure.^[9]

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"^[10] 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 where it was not formed (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: a source rock rich in organic material buried deep enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil; a porous and permeable reservoir rock for it to accumulate in; and 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 not been exposed to heat or pressure long enough to convert their trapped kerogen into oil.^[11]

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.

The biogenic origin of petroleum (liquid hydrocarbon oils) has recently been reviewed in detail by Kenney, Krayushkin, and Plotnikova who raise a number of objections.^[12]

Abiogenic theory

Main article: Abiogenic petroleum origin

A small group of geologists and petroleum engineers have proposed the abiogenic petroleum origin, which is the supposition that hydrocarbons of purely inorganic origin exist in the planet Earth. This is unsupported by current geological theories of the formation of petroleum and is not utilized in exploration.^[13] It was championed in the Western world by astronomer Thomas Gold based on thoughts from Russia, mainly on studies of Nikolai Kudryavtsev in the 1950s. Since most petroleum hydrocarbons are less dense than aqueous pore fluids, Gold proposed that they migrate upward into oil reservoirs through deep fracture networks. Although biomarkers are found in petroleum that most petroleum geologists interpret as indicating biological origin, Gold proposed that Thermophilic, rock-dwelling microbial life-forms are responsible for their presence. Methods of making hydrocarbons from inorganic material have been known for some time, but no substantial proof exists that this is happening on any significant scale in the earth's crust for any hydrocarbon other than methane (natural gas).

Classification

See also: Benchmark (crude oil)

A sample of medium heavy crude oil

The petroleum industry generally classifies crude oil by the geographic location it is produced in (e.g. West Texas, Brent, or Oman), its API gravity (an oil industry measure of density), and by its sulfur content. Crude oil may be considered light if it has low density or heavy if it has high density; and it may be referred to as sweet if it contains relatively little sulfur or sour if it contains substantial amounts of sulfur.

The geographic location is important because it affects transportation costs to the refinery. Light crude oil is more desirable than heavy oil since it produces a higher yield of gasoline, while sweet oil commands a higher price than sour oil because it has fewer environmental problems and requires less refining to meet sulfur standards imposed on fuels in consuming countries. 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. Some of the common reference crudes are:

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a very high-quality, sweet, light oil delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma for North American oil
Brent Blend, comprising 15 oils from fields in the Brent and Ninian systems in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea. The oil is landed at Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetlands. Oil production from Europe, Africa and Middle Eastern oil flowing West tends to be priced off the price of this oil, which forms a benchmark
Dubai-Oman, used as benchmark for Middle East sour crude oil flowing to the Asia-Pacific region
Tapis (from Malaysia, used as a reference for light Far East oil)
Minas (from Indonesia, used as a reference for heavy Far East oil)
The OPEC Reference Basket, a weighted average of oil blends from various OPEC (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries

There are declining amounts of these benchmark oils being produced each year, so other oils are more commonly what is actually delivered. While the reference price may be for West Texas Intermediate delivered at Cushing, the actual oil being traded may be a discounted Canadian heavy oil delivered at Hardisty, Alberta, and for a Brent Blend delivered at the Shetlands, it may be a Russian Export Blend delivered at the port of Primorsk.^[14]

Petroleum industry

Main article: Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry is involved in the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting (often with oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category.

Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself, and thus is critical concern to many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world’s energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, up to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions’ consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8 km³) of oil per year, and the top oil consumers largely consist of developed nations. In fact, 24% of the oil consumed in 2004 went to the United States alone.^[15] The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represent the single largest industry in terms of dollar value on earth.

See also: Price of petroleum, Oil price increases since 2003, and Gasoline usage and pricing

Petroleum exploration

Main article: Hydrocarbon 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 (Enhanced Oil Recovery, EOR). 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 may involve the injection of heat, vapor, surfactants, solvents, or miscible gases as in carbon dioxide flooding.

Alternative methods

During the oil price increases since 2003, alternative 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 during the 1920s in Germany to extract oil from coal and became central to Nazi Germany's war efforts when imports of petroleum were restricted due to war. 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.^{[citation needed]}

Currently, two companies have commercialised their Fischer-Tropsch technology. Shell Oil in Bintulu, Malaysia, uses natural gas as a feedstock, and produces primarily low-sulfur diesel fuels.^[16] Sasol^[17] 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 but also 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 low temperatures in the absence of ambient air, to distill the short-chain hydrocarbons out of coal instead of petroleum.

Further information: Destructive distillation

Oil shale can also be used to produce oil, either through mining and processing, or in more modern methods, with in-situ thermal conversion.

Conventional crude can be extracted from unconventional reservoirs, such as the Bakken Formation. The formation is about two miles (3 km) underground but only a few meters thick, stretching across hundreds of thousands of square miles. It further has very poor extraction characteristics. Recovery at Elm Coulee has involved extensive use of horizontal drilling, solvents, and proppants.

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 hydrocarbons. This mimics the natural geological processes thought to be involved in the production of fossil fuels. In theory, thermal depolymerization can convert any organic waste into petroleum substitutes.

History

Ignacy Łukasiewicz - creator of the process of refining of kerosene from crude oil.

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; there were oil pits near Ardericca (near Babylon), and a pitch spring on Zacynthus.^[18] 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 in the upper levels of their society.

Oil was exploited in the Roman province of Dacia, now in Romania, where it was called picula. The earliest known oil wells were drilled in China in 347 CE or earlier. They had depths of up to about 800 feet (240 m) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles.^[19] The oil was burned to evaporate brine and produce salt. By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to the use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as burning water in Japan in the 7th century.^[18]

The Middle East's petroleum industry was established by the 8th century, when the streets of the newly constructed 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, to produce naphtha. These fields were described by the Arab geographer Abu al-Hasan 'Alī al-Mas'ūdī 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 the Persian alchemist Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as kerosene in the alembic (al-ambiq),^[20] and which was mainly used for kerosene lamps.^[21] Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil in order to produce flammable products for military purposes. Through Islamic Spain, distillation became available in Western Europe by the 12th century.^[22] It has also been present in Romania since the 13th century, being recorded as păcură.^[23]

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.^[18]

In 1710 or 1711 (sources vary) the Russian-born Swiss physician and Greek teacher Eyrini d’Eyrinis (also spelled as Eirini d'Eirinis) discovered asphaltum at Val-de-Travers, (Neuchâtel). He established a bitumen mine de la Presta there in 1719 that operated until 1986.^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]

Oil sands were mined from 1745 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, Alsace under the direction of Louis Pierre Ancillon de la Sablonnière, by special appointment of Louis XV.^[28] 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.^[28]

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. In 1854, Benjamin Silliman, a science professor at Yale University in New Haven, was the first to fractionate petroleum by distillation. 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 Romania in 1857 at Bend, North of Bucharest. The first oil well 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 per day (4.0 m³/d), by the end of the year output was at the rate of 15 barrels per day (2.4 m³/d)). The industry grew through 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:^[18]

1859: 2,000 barrels (~270 t)
1869: 4,215,000 barrels (~5.750×10⁵ t)
1879: 19,914,146 barrels (~2.717×10⁶ t)
1889: 35,163,513 barrels (~4.797×10⁶ t)
1899: 57,084,428 barrels (~7.788×10⁶ t)
1906: 126,493,936 barrels (~1.726×10⁷ 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 quite dire. However, a period of increase production and reduced demand caused an oil glut in the 1980s.

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 of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, including World War II^[29] and the Persian Gulf Wars (Iran-Iraq War, Operation Desert Storm, and the Iraq War)^[30]. The top three oil producing countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States.^{[citation needed]} 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

Ethane and other short-chain alkanes which are used as fuel
Diesel fuel (petrodiesel)
Fuel oils
Gasoline
Jet fuel
Kerosene
Liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
Natural gas

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:

Alkenes (olefins) which can be manufactured into plastics or other compounds
Lubricants (produces light machine oils, motor oils, and greases, adding viscosity stabilizers as required).
Wax, used in the packaging of frozen foods, among others.
Sulfur or Sulfuric acid. These are a useful industrial materials. Sulfuric acid is usually prepared as the acid precursor oleum, a byproduct of sulfur removal from fuels.
Bulk tar.
Asphalt
Petroleum coke, used in speciality carbon products or as solid fuel.
Paraffin wax
Aromatic petrochemicals to be used as precursors in other chemical production.

Consumption statistics

Global fossil carbon emissions, an indicator of consumption, for 1800-2004. Total is black. Oil is in blue.

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.

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 seeps. Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturbs the surrounding marine environment.^[31] 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

Main article: 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.

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.

Control of oil spills is difficult, requires ad hoc methods, and often a large amount of manpower (picture). The dropping of bombs and incendiary devices from aircraft on the Torrey Canyon wreck got poor results;^[32] modern techniques would include pumping the oil from the wreck, like in the Prestige oil spill or the Erika oil spill.^[33]

Global warming

Main article: Global warming

Burning oil releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, which is credited with contributing to global warming. Per joule, oil produces 15% less CO₂ than coal, but 30% more than natural gas^{[citation needed]}. However, the unique role of oil as the main 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 do not generally work 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.^[34]

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:

alternative fuels used in standard or modified internal combustion engines (i.e. combustion hydrogen or biofuels).
propulsion systems not based on internal combustion, such as those based on electricity (for example, all-electric or hybrid vehicles), compressed air, or fuel cells (i.e. hydrogen fuel cells).

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

Petro-cars, this is, only use petroleum and biofuels (biodiesel and biobutanol).
Hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids, that use petroleum and other source, generally, electricity.
Petrofree cars, that do not use petroleum, like electric cars, hydrogen vehicles...

Future of petroleum production

Main articles: Peak oil and Hubbert peak theory

The future of petroleum as a fuel remains somewhat controversial. USA Today news reported in 2004 that there were 40 years of petroleum left in the ground. Some argue that because the total amount of petroleum is finite, the dire predictions of the 1970s have merely been postponed. Others 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.^[11]

Hubbert peak theory

The Hubbert peak theory (also known as peak oil) posits 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. It also suggests a method to calculate the timing of this peak, based on past production rates, the observed peak of past discovery rates, and proven oil reserves. The peak of oil discoveries was in 1965, and oil production per year has surpassed oil discoveries every year since 1980.^[35]

In 1956, M. King Hubbert correctly predicted US oil production would peak around 1971. When this occurred and the US began losing its excess production capacity, OPEC gained the ability to manipulate oil prices, leading to the 1973 and 1979 oil crises. Since then, most other countries have also peaked. 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.

Controversy surrounds predictions of the timing of the global peak, as these predictions are dependent on the past production and discovery data used in the calculation as well as how unconventional reserves are considered. Supergiant fields have been discovered in the past decade, such as Azadegan, Carioca/Sugar Loaf, Tupi, Jupiter, Ferdows/Mounds/Zagheh, Tahe, Jidong Nanpu/Bohai Bay, West Kamchatka, and Kashagan, as well as tremendous reservoir growth from places like the Bakken and massive syncrude operations in Venezuela and Canada.^[36] However, while past understanding of total oil reserves changed with newer scientific understanding of petroleum geology, current estimates of total oil reserves have been in general agreement since the 1960s. Further, predictions regarding the timing of the peak are highly dependent on the past production and discovery data used in the calculation.

It is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region, due to the lack of transparency in accounting of global oil reserves.^[37] 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. 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.

Petroleum by country

Mean oil production by country in 2007, shown as a percentage of the top producer (Saudi Arabia - 10.2 millions of barrels per day).

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 gross domestic product (GDP). 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]}

Selected Nations	GDP-to-consumption ratio (US$1000/(barrel/year))
Switzerland	3.75
United Kingdom	3.34
Norway	3.31
Austria	2.96
France	2.65
Germany	2.89
Sweden	2.71
Italy	2.57
European Union	2.52
DRC	2.4
Japan	2.34
Australia	2.21
Spain	1.96
Bangladesh	1.93
Poland	1.87
United States	1.65
Belgium	1.59
World	1.47
Turkey	1.39
Canada	1.35
Mexico	1.07
Ethiopia	1.04
South Korea	1.00
Philippines	1.00
Brazil	0.99
Taiwan	0.98
China	0.94
Nigeria	0.94
Pakistan	0.93
Myanmar	0.89
India	0.86
Russia	0.84
Indonesia	0.71
Vietnam	0.61
Thailand	0.53
Saudi Arabia	0.46
Egypt	0.41
Singapore	0.40
Iran	0.35

Selected Nations	Per capita energy consumption, oil equivalent (barrel/person/year)
DRC	0.13
Ethiopia	0.37
Bangladesh	0.57
Myanmar	0.73
Pakistan	1.95
Nigeria	2.17
India	2.18
Vietnam	2.70
Philippines	3.77
Indonesia	4.63
China	4.96
Egypt	7.48
Turkey	9.85
Brazil	11.67
Poland	11.67
World	12.55
Thailand	13.86
Russia	17.66
Mexico	18.07
Iran	21.56
European Union	29.70
United Kingdom	30.18
Germany	32.31
France	32.43
Italy	32.43
Austria	34.01
Spain	35.18
Switzerland	34.64
Sweden	34.68
Taiwan	41.68
Japan	42.01
Australia	42.22
South Korea	43.84
Norway	52.06
Belgium	61.52
United States	68.81
Canada	69.85
Saudi Arabia	75.08
Singapore	178.45

(Note: The figure for Singapore is skewed because of its small
population compared with its large oil refining capacity.
Most of this oil is sent to other countries.)

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.

#	Producing Nation	10³bbl/d (2006)	10³bbl/d (2007)
1	Saudi Arabia (OPEC)	10,665	10,234
2	Russia ¹	9,677	9,876
3	United States ¹	8,331	8,481
4	Iran (OPEC)	4,148	4,043
5	China	3,845	3,901
6	Mexico ¹	3,707	3,501
7	Canada ²	3,288	3,358
8	United Arab Emirates (OPEC)	2,945	2,948
9	Venezuela (OPEC) ¹	2,803	2,667
10	Kuwait (OPEC)	2,675	2,613
11	Norway ¹	2,786	2,565
12	Nigeria (OPEC)	2,443	2,352
13	Brazil	2,166	2,279
14	Algeria (OPEC)	2,122	2,173
15	Iraq (OPEC) ³	2,008	2,094
16	Libya (OPEC)	1,809	1,845
17	Angola (OPEC)	1,435	1,769
18	United Kingdom	1,689	1,690
19	Kazakhstan	1,388	1,445
20	Qatar (OPEC)	1,141	1,136
21	Indonesia (OPEC)	1,102	1,044
22	India	854	881
23	Azerbaijan	648	850
24	Argentina	802	791
25	Oman	743	714
26	Malaysia	729	703
27	Egypt	667	664
28	Australia	552	595
29	Colombia	544	543
30	Ecuador (OPEC)	536	512
31	Sudan	380	466
32	Syria	449	446
33	Equatorial Guinea	386	400
34	Yemen	377	361
35	Vietnam	362	352
36	Thailand	334	349
37	Denmark	344	314
38	Congo	247	250
39	Gabon	237	244
40	South Africa	204	199

Source: U.S. 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 (13,400,000 m³/d).

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

Countries whose oil production is 10% or less of their consumption.

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

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