Oil: Black Gold

Oil Formation

• Microscopic aquatic

protists

pressurized & heated • Many C-H chains die  • Seeps through porous rock and trapped under non-porous

Crude Oil Recovery

•

Primary Oil

Recovery: Drill well, pump out oil •

Secondary Oil Recovery:

Injection of H2O into nearby well, force heavy oil into well

Off-shore Oil Platforms • •

Dangerous to work on Require constant maintenance

Santa

Barbara Oil Platforms

Crude Oil Refined?

Mix of diff. HC’s that are separated w/

distillation

: purifying a liquid by evaporation and condensation.

Crude oil delivered by oil tanker

Distilled at a Refinery (LBC, San Pedro)

NA Reserves

• • • Org. of Petroleum Exporting Countries 12 countries : Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Determines best means for protecting their oil interests…price stabilizing

Case Study: OPEC Embargo • OPEC stops supplies of oil to US b/c we supplied Israel w/ weapons during Yom Kippur War.

• Odd-even rationing • Flag System • Ended in ’74 with Kissinger negotiations.

Pricing

1.

2.

How much oil is pumped?

How much oil is being refined?

3.

Operational costs of gas stations

**NOT FULL COST Pricing-

doesn’t include externalities

Shale Oil

• Fine-grained rock, has HCs called kerogen 

kerogen

• Is crushed & heated, vaporizing condensed to shale oil

Tar Sands

• Mix of clay, sand, water and

bitumen

(a high sulfur oil) • Heat sand until bitumen softens, floats to surface  Refined into crude oil

Canada #1!

Pros of Crude Oil: Easy to Transport

Pros of Crude Oil: Cheap!

Pros of Crude Oil: High Net Energy Yield

Pros of Crude Oil: Platforms make artificial reefs

Cons of Crude Oil

•

1) Air pollution (combustion)

–

increased CO 2 warming levels



global

–

acid deposition

Downside of All Fossil Fuels: Production of CO 2

Cons: MTBE

• Methyl tertiary butyl ether • C 5 H 12 O • Fuel additive in gas, enhances octane (helps burn gas completely emissions) from LUSTS carcinogen?

 • Banned in 2004  reduces NOx and VOC • Groundwater pollutant

Con: Oil Spills

•

1989, Exxon Valdez spilled 10.9mill. barrels of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska Exxon Valdez Prince William Sound

CLEAN UP!

•

Large booms contain oil

CLEAN UP!

•

Skimmer boats scrape off oil

CLEAN UP!

•

GE bacteria eats oil!

CLEAN UP!

CLEAN UP!

•

High pressure washing

Con: Wars!

•

Gulf War 1991: Iraq invaded Kuwait; US attacked to protect its oil supply

Peak Oil

• • M.K. Hubbert, 1956 • Theory: Crude oil reserve and production will peak in 1970’s and decline there after Show Hubbert Curve • US Oil Production peaked in 1971