Petroleum

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BAESI workshop

BAESI workshop 6 6 December December 20082008

2. Petroleum

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plus invisible GHGs plus invisible GHGs

L.A. smog

hief

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Petroleum has been used by

humans for millennia, originally

for fires and warfare. In the

Middle East, oil fields were

exploited for naptha, tar, and

kerosene in the 8th to 12th

centuries.

These early users depended on

seeps (like this modern one),

where petroleum rises naturally

because of subsurface pressure.

Beverly Beverly Hillbillies Hillbillies theme theme

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The demand for petroleum

on the world market grew

slowly, but started to take

off in the 1800s. Whale oil

was replaced by kerosene

lamps starting around

1860.

Coal was still the

major fuel source

in the world until

about 1940, when

petroleum passed

it and became the

most valuable most valuable commodity in the commodity in the global global marketplace. marketplace.

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Hydrocarbons

: organic compounds consisting of H and C

Petroleum

: a thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of solid, liquid, and gaseous hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the Earth's surface.

Liquids Gases

Solids (e.g. paraffin) are not abundant, but have many uses

Crude

oil

methane

Natural

Gas

propane pentane butane

Condensate

l i q u i d d r o p l e t s i n g a s a f t e r

Natural Gas Liquids

(NGLs)

p r o c e s s

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Crude oil

* Liquid mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons

(aka “oil”)

* After refining: the chief source of transportation fuels

Natural gas

* After processing: used for power generation, residential,

fertilizers, manufacturing, transportation (still very limited)

* Gaseous mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons

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Combustion (burning) of hydrocarbons releases

carbon dioxide (CO

2

) into the atmosphere

Fuel + Oxygen Carbon dioxide + Water + Heat

In words:

CxHy + (x + y/4)O2 xCO2 + (y/2)H2O

The general equation:

C3H8 + 5O2 3CO2 + 4H2O

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residue fuel oil lubricants diesel kerosene gasoline naptha gases

Fractional

distillation

in a refinery

very schematic cartoon

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Natural

gas

Almost always a mixture of gases; to be used as a fuel, extensive processing is

required to produce pure methane.

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The Graduate

1967

“Plastics.”

ALL PLASTICS are

petrochemicals.

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PVC

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Other synthetic fibers, such as acrylics & dacron: clothing, yarn, rugs, rope, sails, grafts,

containers, resins, etc.

Polyester: The most widely used

artificial fiber in the U.S. — apparel & home furnishings, plus bottles,

fiberglass, LCDs, holograms, filters,

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Apparel, carpets, musical strings, fishing line,

racket strings, rope, auto parts, machine

parts, sutures

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More uses

sterilizers (food & medical

supplies

rubbing alcohol

synthetic rubber

MTBE

detergents

vinyl

dyes

phenols (antiseptics)

TNT

drugs

packaging

riot shields

eyeglass lenses

auto parts

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The inescapable fact: Modern

developed societies depend on

petroleum in innumerable ways. We

are a petroleum-dependent society.

“No civilization can survive the

destruction of its resource base.”

Bruce Sterling

Also see Jared Diamond’s Collapse and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies

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“The Prize”

20th century = “The Oil Century”

“The lifeblood of modern

civilization”

“The foundation of modern society”

Petroleum is a non-renewable resource

that took millions of years to form.

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Petrolia, Ontario

1858 North America’s first oil wells

1860 World’s first integrated oil company

1860–1900 “Oil boom” trained drillers who later dispersed around the planet: U.S., Middle East, South America, etc.

Titusville, PA

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Make lists of the top 5 countries:

Oil production

to date (since ~1860)

Current (2007) rate of oil production Remaining oil reserves

KSA

FSU

USA

Iran

China

USA

FSU

KSA

Iran

Venezuela

FSU = former Soviet Union

KSA = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

KSA

Iraq

Iran

Kuwait

UAE/Venez

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The unequal distribution of petroleum triggered many military and other strategic decisions over

the last century.

Early 1900s: Britain converted its fleet from coal to oil;

dependence on Middle East oil; long-term involvement there starting in World War 1.

Events before and during World War II

* 1930s: Japan imports ~80% of its oil from the USA, and ~18% from

Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

* 1937: Japan invades China, initiating war between them. * Aug 1941: U.S. oil embargo vs. Japan, which has 1.5 years of oil reserves.

* Dec 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, simultaneously invades Dutch East

Indies (Indonesia); first targets: oil fields and refineries. *Germany’s North Africa campaign part of the Axis plan to control the

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U.S. strategy after WWII: U.S. production supported the Allied effort throughout WWII, but dwindling reserves encouraged administrations (starting w/FDR) to look internationally….chiefly to the Middle East.

Iran 1953: The U.S. (via CIA) and U.K. organized the overthrow of Iran’s elected prime minister, who had recently nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (which became British Petroleum (BP) in 1954).

1991 Gulf War: After Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait, the U.S. spearheaded the “liberation” of Kuwait and the defense of oil-richer KSA.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq: Purportedly to eliminate weapons of mass destruction etc. Recommended book: Michael Klare, Blood and Oil (2004).

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A

B

C

D

E

KSA

Iran

Iraq

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Mediterranean

Sea

Caspian

Sea

Red

Sea

l f o f

A d e n

Persian

Gulf

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Y e m e n O m a n UAE Qatar Kuwait

Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Iran

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The Middle East

contains 45–60%

of the world’s

petroleum reserves.

* 6% of global production to da * 6% of modern production

* World’s largest oil field

* 60-65% of KSA production to date

Ghawar

Ghawar: perhaps the

most important place you’ve never heard of

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How to Make Exploitable Petroleum

1. Start with lots of source rock, such as shale containing organic material that has not been oxidized (not very common).

3. Place a reservoir rock above the source rock. The petroleum will rise because of its low density,

so you need a porous (and preferably permeable) rock to hold it.

4. Ensure that the reservoir has a suitable trap—a subsurface geologic structure that will hold (“trap”) petroleum in the reservoir rock, preventing its slow migration to the surface.

2. Heat the source rock to 60°–120°C (for oil) or 120°–220°C (for gas). Do not overcook. Will take millions of years.

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Pores are open spaces

between the particles of a rock.

The more pore space, the higher the porosity.

Pores may contain air, gas, or liquid (water or oil).

The more “connected” the pores, the higher the

permeability.

Pore fluids will flow more

easily in rocks that are more permeable.

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Natural Gas Oil

Water

Color code:Rock

Cartoon of a vertical slice through the crust showing traps in reservoir rocks where petroleum and water

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Typical E&P (exploration and production)

steps

Explore, using dumb luck (Jed); geologic mapping (late 1800s); standard geophysical tools (1930s); high-tech tools (1990s). Drill a test well.

If the petroleum is trapped and under pressure, it will rise naturally; no pumping needed (Jed, early Saudi Arabia).

This is the “primary recovery” phase—free-flowing petroleum.

Gas released during

extraction is valuable but must be trapped and

processed; for decades, it was simply flared off.

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Typical E&P steps, part 2

Primary recovery lasts for several months or years.

As the pressure drops, flow slows and operators must use “secondary recovery” techniques for to recover petroleum. The most common technique: injection of water or gas.

Injection

well Production well

water forced downward

water enters pores, raises pressure; “sweeps” petroleum

in front of it

petroleum rises

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Water injection also is used to increase production, but usually leads to a quicker reservoir decline and less total production.

Injected water produces problems with corrosion, scaling, treatment prior to disposal; requires costly processing and replacement of parts.

Typical E&P steps, part 3

“ Tertiary recovery” techniques may be used once the injection techniques are ineffective. However, they’re expensive, and thus feasible only if the

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Production history of an oil field

Primary

Secondary

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Peak Oil: The maximum sustainable production rate of petroleum for an area (e.g., a field, a

country, or the world).

M. King Hubbert and “Peak Oil”

M. King Hubbert (U.S. geologist) predicted that production rate for any well, field, or region will resemble a bell curve.

The peak of such a curve is known as Hubbert’s Peak.

Peak Oil does NOT

mean “running out of oil.”

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Hubbert’s prediction for U.S. peak oil: ~1970

U.S. production peak in 1970 w/Alaska lower 48

Actual date of U.S. peak oil: 1970

(curve shape differs from his prediction due to Alaska discoveries)